Remember Me?
by Madam Facilier
Summary: "Is that so? I'm terribly sorry, but I can't seem to remember your name. If I can't find you in my memories, it means you have no value to me." Rufus Lore: A young man who ranks within Saber Tooth's top five. His magic allows him to memorize everything in his life and later wield them as weapons. He has it all: power, prestige, pride—even a sister whose name he had forgotten.
1. Chapter 1

**X790, March 16**

The doors opened loudly, alerting the occupants of the guild to their guild mates' entrance. "Open the door with your hands!" A dark blue-haired woman behind the bar yelled as she served a glass of wine to a mage. "Your foot doesn't solve everything!"

Sting shrugged it off. "If we lived in a world where everything was the same, you'd be a maid serving tea, Rietta."

"Sting," Rogue warned sharply, before he looked around the hall. "Where's Rufus?"

"Outside honing his skills. Reporter from Sorcerer Magazine is there too," Rietta snapped. With a snap of her fingers, empty cups and plates soared through the kitchen entrance behind her. "So who's the girl between you two?"

Sting and Rogue glanced at the blond-haired girl whose arms they restrained. She had to be around fourteen, from the Twin Dragons' point of view. "Right after we finished our mission, we heard this girl claiming—"

"It's not a claim," the girl interjected. "I AM—"

"—to be Rufus' little sister," Lector finished, crossing his arms. "Personally, I think she's after the fame and fortune."

"Fro thinks so too!" Frosch chirped.

"Ah, another bluffer?" Rietta whistled loudly. One by one, plates of food and glasses floated out of the kitchen on individual trays. Each order was delivered to the correct mage and the trays floated back, stacking themselves neatly on Rietta's palm. "Which one is she, now? Thirty-three, thirty-four? Honestly, I've lost count."

"If she can't back up her lie, then thirty-five," Rogue said, his left eye glaring at the girl.

"Rufus will remember me," she insisted, bright green eyes glittering with pride. "After all, I'm his sister."

* * *

"COOL!" Jason shouted, fist-pumping the air. "Saber Tooth's Rufus is super COOL!"

Rufus sighed tiredly, nearly losing his patience with the reporter. Now he could see why Rogue preferred not to be around when Jason came for interviews.

"Show me one of your spells!" Jason requested, his camera in his hands.

The masked man with blond hair put his fingers to his temples. "Memory-Make," he murmured, calling forth his memories to use as the base of his spell.

"Rufus!" Rufus nearly swore under his breath as the doors to the rear courtyard opened. He did, however, appreciate the fact that Jason's attention was now on Sting and Rogue, along with the girl in between them.

"The Twin Dragons! COOL!"

"Is there something wrong?" Rufus asked.

"Nope," Sting replied, popping his 'p'. "Your _little sister_ just wanted to say hi." Letting go of the girl, Sting shoved her towards her supposed older brother.

"COOL! Rufus has a little sister!" Jason exclaimed, jotting it down in his notepad.

"Rufus-nii?" The girl said slowly. "Rufus-nii..."

The Twin Dragons and their Exceed partners stood by silently, wondering how Rufus would react. Even Jason refrained from yelling his catchphrase.

Finally, Rufus smiled. "It's been...so long, hasn't it? Ever since I joined this guild, I've wondered how you were doing."

Sting and Lector gaped at the duo whereas Rogue simply raised his eyebrows in surprise. Frosch covered his mouth with his paws.

Jason, however— "COOL! It's official!"

"I hope you're taking good care of yourself," Rufus continued. "I apologize for my absence these past years, but you were too young back then. Surely, you understand?"

"Y-yeah, I do!" his sister stammered. "I wasn't old enough to join a guild... but soon I will be."

"Excellent. I'd like to see your skills mature properly." Rufus turned away, preparing to reenter the guild hall when he stopped in his tracks. He spun around to face his sister. "How completely rude of me to forget! Can you introduce yourself to us, my dear? My colleagues and this reporter don't know your name." Sting and Rogue smirked, catching onto what Rufus just did.

As expected, the girl paled, shivering. "M-my name? But...Rufus-nii...you know my name. Weren't you supposed to i-introduce me?"

Slowly, Rufus gave his 'sister' a mocking smile. "Is that so? I'm _terribly_ sorry, but I can't seem to _remember_ your name. If I can't find you in my memories, it means you have no _value_ to me. You see, I don't look at trash twice. Especially—" He pointed an accusatory finger at the girl. "—if that trash doesn't hesitate to lie."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Jason made a T with his hands. "You mean this girl isn't your sister?"

Rufus glanced coldly at the girl, who turned as pale as a sheet in dread. "I have no idea who this child is," he stated firmly.

"Another bluffer, this time pretending to be Rufus' sister—UNCOOL!" Jason shouted, scratching out some parts of his notes before writing on a new page. "Well, see ya!" With that, Jason ran out of the courtyard, having all the information he wanted.

"A word of advice for you, little girl," Rufus informed. "The next time you want to pass yourself off as a relative of a Saber Tooth wizard, study the family tree. I don't _have_ a little sister. I never did. And I most certainly don't need to look after a con artist like you."

Near the verge of tears due to embarrassment, the girl attempted to run away, only to be grabbed by the arm by Sting. "Oh, no you don't," he declared, pulling her back before throwing her on the ground. "Did you really expect to fool us and get away without a scratch? Kid, we've had to deal with people like you for three years. How do we know you won't try this again?"

"I-I won't, I p-p-promise," she stuttered.

Lector fluttered to the ground, shaking his head. "Lady, we've heard that phrase so many times. But do they learn? Nope. You just gotta learn what we do to you guys the hard way."

"Any suggestions?" Sting asked, cracking his knuckles.

"Do what you want," Rufus told Sting dismissively.

"Leave me out of this." Rogue turned away from the scene, preferring not to take part in the activity.

"Fro wants out, too." Frosch followed his partner back to the guild.

Sting shrugged. "If you insist." He threw the girl over his shoulders like a potato sack, eliciting an indignant yelp from her. "If you need me, I'll be at the dumpster!" he called over his shoulder.

* * *

"Incredibly tiring," Rufus noted, removing his hat.

"How did it go?" Orga asked, sitting down in the chair opposite of Rufus. The black lightning mage returned hours ago from escorting a certain someone back to the guild.

"You should have seen it, Orga-san!" Lector exclaimed. "Rufus nearly had us all with the act, and then he asked the girl for her name!"

Orga snickered. "I bet she was planning to get a name out of Rufus, and live with it for the rest of her life. So what did you do afterwards?"

"I threw her out," Sting joined in, his hair slightly damp from a recent shower. Even a trip to where he went gave him a bad smell.

"Really? Just like that? No dramatic exit?"

"You didn't let me finish. I threw her out—at the dump where she belongs."

The three men laughed, amused by the fate that Sting gave the bluffer.

Ever since their first year of being Fiore's number one guild, people were claiming left and right to be a relative of a Saber Tooth mage. Sure, some of them passed the test—parents obviously, and the occasional siblings. But then there were the fakers: the lowest of the low. The ones after the fame and fortune and didn't care how they got it. Usually, they would play on the long-lost relative act. It got so bad that by the second year of Saber Tooth's reign, Jiemma gave his subordinates permission to interrogate the bluffers if they caught them in the act.

If they passed, give them nothing.

If they lied, give them hell.

"Incoming!" Orga ducked as three serving trays zipped over his head, but stacked themselves messily on the counter.

"No, not like that," Rietta said to a purple and white haired child. "You're close, but the form is messy. Where is the drama? Where is the flair! Where is—this!" In an instant, all empty serving trays soared back to Rietta and stacked themselves neatly on her hand. With a flick of her hand, the trays floated back to vacant tables. "Try again, Hestia."

Hestia spun around on her stool, scanning the room for all the trays that Rietta scattered. Slowly, they all floated off their surface, hovering there for a few seconds. "Second wave!" Rietta called out, causing any members standing by to duck as the trays flew back to the counter. This time, they eclipsed perfectly, not one tray out of place in the stack.

"All right," Rietta whistled appreciatively. "Any better and you could run the bar with me." To this, Hestia grinned widely.

The clock struck ten times, to which Orga rose from his seat. "Wrap it up, chef. It's way past Hestia's bedtime."

"But Orga-san—wah!" Hestia yelped in surprise as Orga picked her up with one hand and carried her up to her dorm on the third floor.

"Careful with her! She's precious cargo!" Rietta yelled up the stairs.

Hestia was the adopted child of Saber Tooth's guild master, after her own mother gave up on her. But Jiemma saw the potential she carried, so he took her in and raised her to mature that power. This meant that Minerva was her older sister, which made the entire guild treat her with respect. However, Minerva rarely gave her adopted sister a second glance.

"It's about that time too, isn't it?" Rufus got to his feet and started for the doors. "I'll have to depart for tonight. Turning in late isn't good for my memories."

* * *

That night, as he tossed and turned in his sleep, Rufus had the strangest dream.

_~Dream sequence~_

_Rufus was thirteen, having been a teenager for months now. But this scene wasn't very cheerful._

_He was standing before two graves, dressed in black. Everyone else was too. The dream was rather fuzzy, making it so that he couldn't see anything but the surnames: Lore._

_'That's right,' Rufus thought in his dream. 'My parents' funeral. So where is—'_

_Looking around, he found not his late grandmother, but a young girl holding onto him, crying. The Rufus in reality frowned as his dream self hugged the child, attempting to comfort her._

_The dream ended too soon, dissipating as he himself woke up._

_'But if that was me, then who was that girl?'_ Rufus thought as the last wisps of the dream faded.


	2. Chapter 2

Rufus entered the guild, slightly disoriented by last night's dream. The masked wizard kept wondering how a dream of a funeral could keep him up for most of the night. He once experienced more bizarre dreams, like the time he somehow dreamed that Orga tried to put one of his poems into song form and demolished the entire town with his horrible singing. After that dream, Rufus kept his poetry folder in a desk drawer at his apartment.

So if a singing nightmare made him cautious, how did a dream of his parents' funeral leave him frightened?

Some of the other mages gave him open looks as he dragged his feet with each step towards the bar. Rufus was known for being able to keep a calm composure. But no one ever saw him in a daze. Everyone assumed something was wrong with him today.

"—watch out, Rufus-san!" The young man felt something pass above his head, and now his head felt slightly lighter. For some reason, Hestia panicked as she jumped off her stool and approached Rufus. Why was there a hat in her hands? "I'm sorry, Rufus-san!"

"Hm?" Rufus felt his head, eyes widening when his hands met his scalp instead. "Oh!" Hestia held his hat out for him and he accepted it gratefully. "Thank you, Hestia."

"No problem, Rufus-san," she said as they walked to the bar together. Rufus helped Hestia onto the stool beside him; sometimes it was difficult for her to climb on. Rufus cringed, remembering vividly the day Hestia hit her head on the floor after trying to climb the stool when she was two. It took a not-too-cold pack and some funny faces from Lector and Frosch to get her to stop crying.

"What do you want, sleepy? Something sharp?" Rietta questioned as she sent a tray filled with breakfast plates over to the mage who ordered it. And she did this while she flipped several pancakes in one go. Rietta was known for her speed and proficiency, especially when it came to the kitchen. She wasn't Saber Tooth's head chef for nothing.

"Just..." Rufus yawned widely, blinking back exhausted tears. "A sharp tea," he agreed. "Something to rouse my memory."

At the same time that she placed all the pancakes on one plate, she reached an arm for a tea kettle filled with water and set it on the stove top. The water simmered in its container while Rietta sent another plate away on a serving tray.

The doors burst open, with Lector and Frosch rushing in and landing in front of Hestia.

"Lector? Frosch? What's wrong?" Hestia asked.

"Tia-kun... needs to hide soon...REALLY soon..." Frosch panted between breaths.

Rietta stopped what she was doing, listening to the conversation. "Is she—?"

"Mother alert!" Lector exclaimed.

"I'm home!" Hestia's ears twitched, along with those of the Exceed. They were too late. Or so they thought...

Without warning, Rietta grabbed Hestia and hid her under the counter on the chef's side of the bar. The space was actually roomy and clean, Hestia noticed.

Rufus could only sigh sadly at the predicament. Hestia was nearly five and a half now, so that meant the incident with her mother happened just last year. That year brought about the most changes to the child's life. Initially, Hestia's mother adored her, but by her second year of life, things began to change. Her mother's kind smile would seem more forced; she spent more time on job requests than she did with her daughter. And by the time Hestia was three, her mother disliked the mere sight of her, all because Hestia resembled her father. Strangely, Rufus thought it was only the originally pink hair, since Hestia's face was all her mother in his eyes.

But apparently, Hestia reminded her mother of her father, hence the hostility she showed to her child from then on. It got so bad that Rufus had to suppress her memories. The final session did the trick, but it costed Hestia her own mother. Rufus wondered if Hestia hated him for that, but he could never exactly tell. Hestia's hair was dyed from her natural pink to purple and white. And effective immediately, Hestia was taken under Jiemma's wing.

The masked wizard got up and approached the bulletin board. The neophytes that stood before it cleared a path for Rufus, allowing him to scan the board for a suitable job.

Rufus read over one of the flyers carefully, noting the short distance to the client's location. The town discovered nocturnal activity on the streets from some rogue wizards and needed them captured. The reward came to the grand total of 500,000 Jewels.

"Your tea." Rufus looked up from the paper to see Rietta slide a steaming cup towards him. "I had better not find one drop remaining when you leave."

Rufus smiled slyly. "I'll keep that in mind."

* * *

Rufus cursed under his breath as he searched for an empty compartment. Of all the days for the train to be filled with people, why did it have to be today?

"Kyah! It's Rufus!" A girl's voice squealed. A choir of similar pitched screams matched hers.

No matter where he went, there would always be someone who reacted like that. He was part of Saber Tooth's elite five, albeit the last. In descending order, Minerva was the strongest without a doubt, followed by Orga; there was some debate about whether Rogue was stronger than Sting or if it was the other way around; and Rufus ranked fifth. He supposed it did have something to do with who was in the guild longer, since he was the last of the elite five to enter Saber Tooth.

Rufus spotted a compartment with its door open. Assuming that it was empty, he slipped in, closing the door quietly.

"...mh..." Rufus wheeled around at the noise, realizing that it wasn't as empty as he originally thought.

Sleeping in a sitting position, back to the wall and legs sprawled on the seat, was a pale boy younger than Rufus himself.

"May I sit here?" Rufus knew it was stupid of him to ask. His entrance didn't seem to hinder the boy's nap, so why would he answer his question? But to his surprise, the boy seemed to turn his head and nod to Rufus. Yet he never woke up.

Slightly perturbed by the boy's gesture, Rufus sat down. With nothing else to do besides stare out the window, he decided to take a closer look at his fellow passenger. Judging by his clothes, he looked like an ordinary schoolboy. Over a simple white shirt, a buttoned-up black vest, and a blue tie was a blazer the same color as the tie. His red pants had to come down to the middle of his shin, which made his dark boots visible. Strangely, the boy wore a navy blue cap that had to be too big for his blonde head.

Rufus frowned in confusion as he took note of the most curious part of the boy. With each inhale, his blonde hair darkened until it reached light brown; with each exhale, his hair lightened to its natural blonde. And the cycle continued. "Interesting," he murmured, taking his eyes off the boy to stare out the window.

"...dreams..." Rufus looked back at the boy, but he was still breathing evenly. Was he sleep-talking? "Some say...they're the future that has yet to happen..."

"Is that so?" Rufus mused, deciding to engage the curious boy in his sleep. "Then what are they to you?"

"Me?" The boy yawned widely, but showed no sign of waking. "Dreams...are a heart's way of saying...you've forgotten something...Tell me...what have you forgotten?"


	3. Chapter 3

_"...Tell me...what have you forgotten?"_

Those words surprised Rufus. No—they _amused_ him. What this boy was suggesting in his sleep was laughable; Rufus forgetting something? That was the same as Fairy Tail actually winning the games this year: _impossible_.

Despite how ridiculous this scene appeared to be, he couldn't help but note how entertaining this boy was. A smile formed on the masked wizard's face, something the sleeping boy would never see. But when he spoke, his tone contrasted with his expression. "Your words are in vain. Everything that happens to me, I remember without fail. It's impossible for me to forget. But I will say this: whatever can't be found in my memories has no value to me."

"...I see..." The blonde boy snored lightly, something which got on Rufus' nerves because of Orga. Every year when they made their way to Crocus, if Orga fell asleep on the way, it was _hell_ for everyone riding with him. "...so if you can't remember anything at all...if a person lost all memory of who they were...what would you say to that?"

"Then that hypothetical person," Rufus replied, "had no value to begin with." _Such is the way of the world_, he thought to himself, recalling a time when a wizard failed to return from a mission for months. Jiemma refused to dispatch a search party for his subordinate and then the wizard came back, devoid of memories except for the fact they were an apparent member of Saber Tooth.

And apparent became former when Jiemma dismissed his subordinate like a teacher would to a class.

"...Is that really what you think?" he asked, his breathing slow and steady as ever. Was it his imagination or was the boy's hair focused more on the shade of brown?

"It's not a thought. It's a belief."

The boy fell silent; Rufus could have sworn he saw the hint of a malevolent grin on the child's face, making him wonder if he had been awake this whole time. But as he exhaled, his hair paled back to its fair shade. This time the boy yawned widely, blinking several times as if he were beginning to stir. But a sudden snore told an annoyed Rufus that he wasn't.

"*yawn* Well...if you say so...then it must be true."

The train screeched to a halt as the conductor announced their current location. "Here's my stop," the boy mumbled sleepily, getting up from his side of the compartment to slide the door open.

Even Rufus couldn't deny that this boy was interesting as he said honestly, "Should you reenter my memories, I'd like to see what you have to say when you're awake."

"Hm." The schoolboy rounded a corner to leave, but not before he said, "_À bientôt, Monsieur Lore_."

Rufus' head jerked to attention at the change in the boy's voice. Not only did he speak another language—not to mention that it was his late grandmother's native language—but he did so with a perfect accent to his voice, not even a break in his intonation.

But there was still one thing that caught Rufus' attention. It wasn't the fact that the boy somehow knew who he was when he didn't give out his name, but one curious thing about the sleeping child.

"How do you speak Minstrel in your sleep?"

* * *

**Lamia Scale**

It was a slow day for the second-best guild of Fiore. It had yet to become noon, and many members were out on a job. And some of them were conducting other business.

The doors opened widely, revealing a man with unusually large eyebrows with a dog-like man accompanying him. "We're home!" Toby announced loudly.

"Quiet down," Yuka advised he approached the bar, setting down his messenger bag.

"Well?" Ooba Babasaama, the guild master of Lamia Scale, spun into view. Her arms spun in a circular fashion as she spoke. "Any luck?"

Yuka shook his head. "Nothing, Obaba. Jura and Lyon are still helping with the search party, though."

"Tell them to search harder! They're not putting their heart into it!" Ooba yelled at them. The duo had their ears covered at her outburst. As she spun away, she said to herself, "I know you're not dead, Makarov. Can't you hear your own guild calling out to you?"

The doors opened again, but the newcomer wasn't one of Ooba's subordinates. The newcomer was—a newcomer. The blonde schoolboy walked in casually, taking no note of the open glances he was getting from the resident mages of Lamia Scale.

"Hey, kid!" Toby waved a hand in front of the boy but he payed no attention to the dog-like man and simply walked past. Ticked off, he grabbed for the boy's cap. "Don't ignore people when they're talking to—!"

Toby never got to finish what he meant to say. What happened next went by so fast, Yuka wondered if it actually happened. One minute, the boy grabbed the hand that was on his cap. And now, Toby was somehow pinned to the ground, his hands restrained at his back by the boy, who stood on Toby's back along with his hands.

"I dare you to touch my hat again," the boy snarled dangerously. "The next time you try to touch it...I wonder what you'll use in place of those hands of yours."

"Who is that kid?" One mage whispered to his friend.

"I dunno," the other replied, "but how did he move like that?"

The blonde boy's head bobbed once and his eyes opened slowly. He stretched his arms, yawning widely. "Wait..." The boy blinked as he took note of his surroundings. "What was I doing?"

Jaws dropped at his statement. How could he not know what he just did to Toby?

As if he heard their thoughts, the boy looked down and saw Toby under his feet. "Ah!" Immediately, the boy got off and helped Toby back up. "Are you all right, mister?" he asked, panicking.

"WHAT?" Everyone stared in disbelief at the boy. One second he had Toby pinned down and threatened and now he was asking if he was all right?

"How can you have the nerve to ask that?!" Toby yelled indignantly, pulling his hand away from the boy.

"O-kay? I'm sorry for helping?" he apologized in a small questioning voice. The boy looked around the guild filled with dumbstruck mages. He snapped his fingers. "That's right...I was gonna join a guild...So where's the guild master?" Still gaping at him, everyone pointed to Ooba, who even pointed a finger to herself.

Everyone watched as the mysterious boy made his way towards Ooba. He came to a stop before her and bowed. "Ooba Babasaama, right?" Ooba nodded slowly, never taking her eyes off the boy.

The boy came back up, determination set in his eyes. "I'd like to join your guild."

"HUH?" The entire guild hall chimed.

"No way!" Toby shouted at the boy.

"But he pinned Toby!" Another called.

"Don't tell them that!" Toby begged.

"I couldn't even see him," Yuka added.

Ooba held up a hand, bringing her guild's opinions to a halt. "Young man...what are you?"

"Pardon?" The boy asked, confused.

"You came in here...you pinned down one of my fastest mages..."

"I did?"

"And somehow...you don't even know your own feat...how?" she finished.

"I...I did that?" The boy held his head momentarily, confusion etched clearly on his face. Realization soon took its place. "Oh! Well...some people consider it a talent...but according to them—since I'm never awake to see it—" He pointed a pinkie at himself. "—I'm an active sleeper!" he laughed to himself.

"An active sleeper?" One mage exclaimed.

"You mean he's a sleepwalker?"

"Sleepwalker, my foot! He's a sleep-_fighter_!"

"No way!"

"Hush!" Ooba ordered. At once, her guild quieted down. She scratched her chin. "Active sleeping, huh? Now that's a talent worth bragging about. I wouldn't mind having a sleep-fighter...but can you use magic?"

"Why not?" The boy spun around, pointing his pinkie finger at Yuka's bag. The bag floated high off the table before dropping back down at the same pace.

"I see..." Obaba retreated to her office.

"He passed the test, Obaba!" A chubby man called out.

"He seems pretty cool, too," another added.

"But he is young," Yuka shot in response.

"Too young!" Toby added angrily.

"All right, shut it or you spin!" Ooba returned with a large binder, a pen, and a guild stamp. She set it down on the bar, making Yuka and the boy jolt at the sound that was made. Ooba opened the binder, revealing many pages with names written across each page. "You're going to have to spell your own name, sonny," she grumbled as she flipped through until she stumbled upon a fresh page. "This helps the Council keep track of who goes where, so get to it!"

Not wanting to cross his soon-to-be master, the blonde boy took the pen and wrote quickly, filling in the essential information such as name, birthday, age, etc. Though he peeked over his shoulder inconspicuously, Yuka couldn't make out the boy's handwriting.

As soon as he set the pen down, Ooba brandished the stamp. "Now where do you want it, boy?"

"Uh..." The boy looked at his body, wondering where he should get his mark when one spot in particular caught his eye. Pulling the zipper down on his left boot, he tapped his ankle. "Here, please. In green."

"Are you sure?" Ooba received a nod in response, to which she sighed. "Next time, choose a place that won't stink," she said as she pressed down on the boy's ankle. When she removed the stamp, the tattoo of her guild in green stared back at her. "Welcome to the guild—er..." Ooba squinted at the boy's paper, unable to decipher his handwriting. "On second thought, can you tell me your name?"

"My name's Platin," he answered. "...Just Platin, if you will."

**Author's note:**

**Eesh, people. Is one review really too hard?**

**Fiore is one of the countries of Earthland, Minstrel is another. Later on, I plan on mentioning another country. And in this story, I made Minstrel the Earthland equivalent of our France.**

**And there was only a bit of French to this. For example:**

**_À bientôt —_**See you later

**And to any francophone out there, I am sorry if I spelled the French translation wrong. **

**French is the third language of Madam Facilier.**


	4. Do Not Disturb

**April 2, X790**

"We're back!" Lyon called as he entered Lamia Scale's base. Jura followed after him, looking rather disheartened.

"How was the search?" Ooba asked, spinning into view.

Jura shook his head. "Nothing at all, Ooba-dono. No matter how much we searched, there were no traces of Fairy Tail's core members."

"Is that so, Jura?" Ooba sighed sadly, knowing that if Jura said it, then it was most likely correct. "Very well. How is Fairy Tail coping?"

"They refuse to give up hope," Jura said, his voice containing admiration. "But even the strong-willed are beginning to lose hope."

"Hey, who's this kid?" Jura looked away from his conversation with Ooba to see what attracted Lyon's attention. The ice mage stood before Platin, who dozed away with his head on the table. Lyon slammed his palms against the table. "Hey, wake up!"

"You don't want to do that," Yuka suggested.

"Indeed, he is unfamiliar to me." Jura stroked his beard. "Who is he, Ooba-dono?"

"Who?" Ooba spun in the direction of Lyon and saw who her top two mages meant. "His name's Platin, from what he told me two weeks ago. He could be pulling my leg with the names, though. His handwriting looks like a girl's—"

"Nap time's over, kid! Wake up and introduce yourself!" Lyon put his hands together. "Ice-Make: Sword!"

"Don't wake him up, Lyon!" Ooba called in reaction, but it was too late. Ooba knew he would only strike the table, but that still wouldn't change what would follow, if she was correct.

One of Platin's feet kicked off the ground, launching him out of the way as Lyon's sword made contact with the table and got itself stuck there. Lyon tugged at his creation, not taking notice of the blonde-haired, blue-capped boy falling to the ground behind him. But before Platin touched the ground, he inverted himself in midair. His left foot shot out and kicked Lyon in the back; the hit was enough to send Lyon and the table flying towards the wall.

"Ah, there he flies," Yuka commented.

"Oon," Toby yawned, since it was still early.

"...That's why I said not to wake him," Ooba muttered, her eyes covered.

"Platin-dono's a very light sleeper, it seems," Jura noted.

"He's not a light sleeper, Jura. The boy never woke up at all."

"Hm?"

On cue, Platin's head bobbed shortly before he opened his eyes, blinking them rapidly. He stretched his arms and yawned. "Good morning," he mumbled sleepily. "What's for breakfast?"

"Well, some people got a serving of Lyon-got-his-butt-handed-over-by-a-kid just a minute ago," A chubby man informed Platin, gesturing towards said wizard.

"Ah..." Platin sweated nervously. "Did I do that in my sleep?" The only answers he received were hasty nods. Platin bowed his head dejectedly. "One more apology to make for my sleep-fighting."

Jura's jaw dropped when he heard Platin's response. "Platin-dono fights in his sleep?"

"The poor boy spends most of the day sleeping like a cat," Ooba said, spinning her arms around each other. "And if someone tries to wake him up, he attacks them in his sleep."

"I...I see..." In truth, it frightened Jura that a child could fight in his sleep. The notion of it seemed impossible, but he couldn't deny what he witnessed with his own eyes.

"*Yawn* What's on the request board today?" Platin walked over to the bulletin board and scanned it for a mission he wanted.

"Erm...shouldn't someone accompany him?" Jura asked. "Platin-dono is quite young to go off on his own."

"Yes...you have a point there, Jura," Ooba murmured, scratching her cheek. "He does need supervision."

"Master Ooba!" Platin came up to Ooba and Jura, holding out the mission he wanted to take on. "I need your approval!"

"You have my blessing," Ooba said. "But Platin...it does worry me that you're going on your own...especially when you're asleep most of the time. And the mission you picked isn't one that you can complete on your own, even though I have faith in your capabilities. Why don't you go off with another person?"

"Ah..." Platin rubbed his temples. "I guess sleeping clouds my judgement."

Ooba merely nodded in silent agreement. "So who's going with—aha! Yuka! Toby!" The duo came to attention when their master called their names. "Accompany Platin on his first mission, will you?"

"Why us?" Toby shouted.

"Don't argue. She wants us to go so we can watch over him," Yuka said.

"Exactly," Ooba affirmed. "Remember, Platin is still young, so help him when he needs it."

"Oon."

"Got it, Obaba."

"Now, so you're all familiar with each other—" Ooba cleared her throat. "Yuka, Toby, this is Platin. He's new to this guild, so make him feel comfortable here." The duo accompanying Platin nodded in acknowledgement. "Platin, these are Yuka Suzuki and Toby Horhorta. Yuka is the one with huge eyebrows and Toby—I'm sure you remember him—is the one you attacked in your sleep two weeks ago." Jura raised his eyebrows at this comment that made some of his colleagues snicker.

"Don't say that in front of Jura, granny!" Toby wailed.

"I hope you listen to me when I say this, and I mean it: get along, boys."

* * *

"Th-thanks for coming with me," Platin yawned as they boarded the train. "Even if it was on Ooba's orders."

"And you should be grateful—!" Before Toby could finish his sentence, Yuka elbowed him in the gut to shut him up.

"No problem, kid," Yuka answered. "And just so you know, you're allowed to call the master Obaba or granny. She doesn't mind as long as you don't call her hag."

"I see..." Platin yawned again just when they found seats for themselves. "Well, wake me up when we get there!"

"Wait, you're sleeping again?" Yuka sweated as Platin snored softly back into dreamland. He frowned as he watched Platin's hair shift from brown to blonde with each breath. "What is this kid?"

"Sleeping again?" Toby yelled at the sleeping boy.

"Quiet down!" Yuka hissed. "He looks...at ease. Like he was sleep-deprived for so long. What are you up to?" he added abruptly.

Toby rubbed his hands together, an evil glint in his eyes. "Kukuku...let's see what's under his hat."

"Don't try it," Yuka groaned. "Didn't the last time teach you anything?"

Toby barely had his hand over Platin's hat when the boy said sharply, "Touch the hat and your hand says goodbye!"

Yuka and Toby jolted, alarmed by Platin's threat. The Anti-Mage had to look at Platin carefully to make sure he wasn't faking. But the boy's breathing was as steady as ever and his eyes were closed, but not screwed shut.

"Sleep-talking," Toby said, reaching for the hat. This time, Platin's hand shot out, choking Toby's wrist in a vicegrip. "Ouch! Let go!"

"What did I just say about the hat?" Platin growled. Yuka noticed that Platin's hair was now a light shade of brown, and some parts of it seemed to cover his left eye. The boy opened his right eye, which matched his hair in shade. The dark circle under his eye made him look too sinister for his age. "Tell me, are you that desperate to die young?"

"Pl-Platin, let him go!" Yuka stammered nervously, but firmly.

"Hmph." Platin let go of Toby's wrist and swatted it away. "You're lucky that you caught me during my nap. But strike three, and you're out." With that, Platin closed his right eye; his hair lightened to his natural blond before darkening as he inhaled.

Yuka and Toby sweated at the boy's antics. The dog-like man moaned in pain as he massaged his wrist.

Rule number one:** Never** try to mess with Platin in his sleep.

**Really, people. Is ONE review really that hard? I'm not saying that reviews are required, but they give inspiration.**


	5. Descent

**X790, April 2, 9:45 PM**

**Saber Tooth**

Plates and glasses floated off tabletops and soared through the air, curving dramatically before they retreated through the entrance to the kitchen. "Voilà!" Rietta exclaimed, dusting off her hands. "Now you're getting the hang of it, Hestia!"

"Ahem." Rietta looked at the person who said that. Rufus stood on the other side of the bar, holding a plate with a sly smile. "You missed one."

The head chef snatched the plate from him. "You just had to ruin her moment, Lore," Rietta grumbled.

Rufus sat down beside Hestia, who rested her head on the counter. "It was still a good effort, Hestia," Rufus said to the child. "I remember where you need to work on your magic so you can try again tomorrow."

"Mh..." Hestia made no signs of acknowledging Rufus' words.

"Hestia," Rufus tried again, "are you mad because I took that plate away?"

"...Zzz..." Rietta and Rufus took a closer look at their master's adopted child. Lo and behold, Hestia was fast asleep.

"I forgot about her curfew again," Rietta groaned, rubbing the space between her eyes. Rufus paid no mind to the chef's words and observed the sleeping girl. He hadn't seen her so at peace for a while, not since...

All of a sudden, Rufus chuckled into his hand. Rietta stared at him openly. "Is there something funny about Hestia sleeping?"

"No, no," Rufus assured, the last laughs dying down. "It's just...she reminded me of this sleeping child I met on a train."

"And that was funny?"

"No, what was curious was the fact that he talked in his sleep."

Rietta snorted. "My foot, Lore. If he actually talked in his sleep, I'll make Quiche Lorraine for breakfast."

Rufus' eyes glittered at the chef's proposal. He could already taste that creamy, open-faced pie. "That's not even the most interesting part; it's what he _said_ to me that caught my attention."

"Oh? How so?" Rietta asked as she wiped some drool off of Hestia's cheek with a napkin.

Rufus put his fingers to his temple. "'Dreams are a heart's way of saying you've forgotten something. Tell me, what have you forgotten?'" he quoted.

The head chef roared with laughter, only to die down in fear of waking Hestia up. Her short-lived laughter did draw the attention of the wizards still in the guild, though. "A kid on the train said that to you?"

"In his sleep."

"As if that's possible!" Rietta chortled as she wiped free the plates and glasses of water. "The day you forget something is when those fairies take home the title of number one!"

"Couldn't have said it better," Rufus agreed.

"But if we're still on the topic of sleep—" Rietta handed Hestia off to Rufus, who shifted her weight a bit so he could balance her. "—then you put Hestia to bed."

"So assuming we're still on the topic of sleep until I leave—"

"Something else you want to say about the sleep-talking kid?" Rietta questioned.

Rufus smiled. "No. You're making Quiche Lorraine tomorrow."

"Zzz...that sounds yummy..." Hestia mumbled sleepily.

* * *

After Rufus tucked Hestia into bed, he took a glance around her room. So many things changed about this space: once it was bright and cheerful, filled with toys and stuffed plushies. Now it seemed to match the mood of the guild: proud, powerful, but conserved.

Many of Hestia's childhood toys were gone, replaced by books and practical items. A tall bookshelf sat against one wall, with most of the books on the lower shelves where she could reach them. The higher shelves contained the few toys Jiemma let her keep after he took her in: a stuffed tiger doll, which sat on top of a lion doll; a miniature Sting doll which sat against the counterpart of Rogue, both made by Anthea during her final year of life. If one took an extremely good look, then one would find a bunny plush behind those dolls; Sting won this for Hestia last year when he sneaked her out.

"...Rufus-san..." Rufus wheeled around at Hestia's voice. "Story..."

"You're supposed to be sleeping, Hestia," Rufus said.

"...Not tired," she mumbled.

Rufus sighed with a smile. "Very well. What do you want me to tell you?"

"..." For a moment, Rufus believed that Hestia went back to sleep. But then, "What were *yawn* what were your parents like?" The blond memory wizard froze, unsure of how he should answer that request. "Master's my parent now...but no one in the guild...talks about theirs...how come?"

Rufus sat down in a chair beside Hestia's bed. "It's not that they don't want to talk about their family, Hestia. But Master...he rarely allows family members to join the guild, since he believes they'll only drag each other down. The only exceptions he ever made were you and your mother, and that was Lady Anthea's last wish."

"O-oh..." Hestia yawned. "But st-still...what were they like...before they came here?"

The Memory-Make wizard was silent for a long time. "You would have to ask them, Hestia, as long as Master doesn't hear it." He took a deep breath. "You said you wanted to know about mine?"

"Mh-hm."

Rufus dug through his memories, searching through them for a tale he could tell her. "I remember I grew up with my parents in Crocus," he began. "My grandmother was born in Minstrel, so I grew up speaking a second language so that I could communicate with her when we visited. Both of my parents were devoted to magical development, and they worked in a lab within the capital. And I was happy." Rufus lowered his head, shadows falling over his face. "But...five years ago...X785...something went wrong."

"...what happened?" Hestia asked in a small voice.

Rufus removed his hat, holding it close to his heart. "There was an explosion...and it began in the basement of the lab where my parents worked. The building collapsed...and it was in flames...even now, I remember trying to calm a little girl who couldn't have been older than you, Hestia." Rufus began to stroke the feather on his hat. "After their funeral, I had to live with my grandmother, who remained in the town where she settled after she immigrated. I only lived with her for a year before she passed on, too. So there I was, an orphan with no other family to live with and money that couldn't be used until I turned seventeen. It almost looked like I would have to go to an orphanage...but by then, I was old enough to join a guild, and I had the talent to do so."

"...Zzz..." By now, Hestia was completely out cold. Exhaustion took over her sometime during the story.

"Good night, Hestia."

* * *

_~Dream sequence~_

_A thirteen-year old Rufus called up to someone, fear in his eyes. The real Rufus looked to where his younger self was yelling and saw the little girl from his last dream, balancing atop a high picket fence._

_The little girl gave Rufus—he had no idea if she saw the real him—a thumbs up and executed a pirouette where she stood. Rufus had to admit how dangerous it looked, since she was perched on a thin wooden beam. She lost her balance halfway through and tumbled, but the younger Rufus caught her._

_He scolded her, probably talking about how dangerous her feat was. The girl bowed her head and said what must have been an apology. Dream Rufus finally smiled and hugged the girl._

_The two children ran towards the house, where Rufus' grandmother waited in the doorway. The real Rufus tried to call out to them, with questions wishing to leave his lips._

**_Why are you in my dreams?_**

**_Who are you?_**

**Remember guys, reviews are appreciated!**


	6. Sleep Deprived

**Bonjour, bonjour, bonjour! Madam Facilier has returned!**

**Ah, je suis contente!  
**

**—Translation: I am happy.**

**Why? On Saturday, I went to the regional World Language Declamation contest for my school and brought back first place in level three cultural trivia for French! My joy at the result allowed me to type faster than I normally would and give you this!**

**X790, April 2, 10:30 PM**

Ten Vulcans were piled in a heap, all defeated and unconscious. The blue-capped blonde boy stretched his arms out. "Was that it?"

"Th-that's the last of them," Yuka yawned tiredly. "Platin, you gave me your drowsiness."

"He's more like a living sleep virus!" Toby interjected, taking one last scratch at a Vulcan for good measure before joining his fellow wizards on the trail.

"H-hey, it's not my fault that yawning's contagious," Platin defended as they made their way back to town through the mountains.

"I was joking, you guys," Yuka said, trying to keep himself awake by telling himself that they were only ten minutes away from town. He kept yawning, wishing that he could be at the inn, sleeping in a soft bed for the night until their return to the guild tomorrow. "Let's head to town hall and then we can sleep."

"Oon."

"Got it."

Platin walked past Yuka and Toby, seemingly putting himself in charge of leading his guild mates back to town. It was then that Yuka noticed something about the blonde boy: he didn't have the same nighttime exhaustion that they were going through. Well, defeating the Vulcans was partly the reason they were fatigued, but while the Wave and the dog-like man lagged behind, Platin surged forward.

"Hey, Platin."

The boy stopped as soon as he heard Yuka address him. "Yuka?"

"How is it," the Wave began, "that while we're exhausted and want to sleep, you have energy to spare?"

"Er..." Platin rubbed the back of his blonde head, searching for an answer. "I...I..."

"Wait. Unless—" Yuka pointed a finger at Platin. "Unless it's because you slept for most of the day so that you're totally alert at night?"

"Yeah, exactly!" The boy agreed.

Platin's quick response to his theory struck Yuka odd, but he decided to ignore it...for now. "That must be a pain."

"I have a weak internal clock. Hey, how come Toby keeps rubbing his wrist?" Platin asked abruptly, catching the dog-like man massage his wrist for the twentieth time today.

"Er..." Now it was Yuka and Toby's turn to rub the back of their heads, the latter using his uninjured hand. After the train ride, the two were very careful around Platin after witnessing his little outburst.

"Did I...do something in my sleep again?" Platin asked dejectedly, recognizing their reactions.

"Well...I'm not sure if it _was_ in your sleep," Yuka started. Which was true, because he had no idea if Platin had faked his slumber. "But—"

"You nearly broke my wrist!" Toby yelled bluntly. He received a jab to the midriff by Yuka.

"You could have delivered it gently!"

"Oh...I did?" Platin hung his head, waves of depression hanging over his head. "This really has to stop someday."

"Hey, it's not that bad." Yuka kicked a pebble as he and Toby caught up to Platin. "Well, it wouldn't be bad if you could control who you attacked in your sleep," the Wave added after much thought.

"Like someone other than me!"

"I guess…" The clouds parted, shining light on the trail. Platin looked at the sky. "Hey, it's the moon!"

"Hm?" Yuka stared up at the full moon, which bathed the trio in silvery light.

"Oon."

Darting around, Platin found a ledge to stand on so he could see the moon better. "It's so pretty..."

"It's just the moon," Yuka said, the sight of the satellite stirring up old memories inside him.

Neither he nor Toby, not even Sherry knew that they would spend three years in vain trying to thaw Deliora from a unmeltable prison. But the demon killed their families so many years ago, and they all wanted revenge. They didn't stop to think about the demon village on Galuna Island, where they gathered Moon Drip. Not only did they affect their memories of who they really were, but they didn't hesitate to try to destroy them when Fairy Tail decided to meddle.

"Fiore's way too quiet with Fairy Tail in the gutters," Yuka muttered.

"Don't get too close to the edge, it's dangerous!" he heard Toby yell.

The Wave's attention went to what made Toby yell this time. Platin stood at the edge of the cliff, eyes glazed as if entranced by the night sky. "Platin, get back here!" Yuka shouted. "Wait..." He watched Platin's eyes droop and his body fell forward, threatening to fall off the cliff—and into the rocky terrain below.

This time, both he and Toby screamed, "How can you sleep at a time like this?!" The men scrambled to get to Platin before he fell, but they were too late. The blue-capped boy fell off the cliff, free-falling towards the treacherous mountain trail just below them.

"Platin, WAKE UP!" Yuka yelled at the top of his lungs.

Before he could hit the first tree, Platin flipped in midair and landed on a branch with ease. He then leaped at an impossible height, performing a series of acrobatic feats before landing before his guild mates, who gaped at him.

"_Je suis desolée, messieurs_," Platin apologized as he adjusted his hat, his voice strangely accented and a bit higher pitched. "It was never my intention to scare anyone."

"Platin...you…how…" Yuka couldn't form a complete sentence, still dumbstruck by what just occurred.

Platin directed his sight towards the moon, blue eyes shining in the light. "It's just that _la lune_ looked _très belle_, so I—"

"You idiot!" Platin covered his ears from the combined outbursts of Yuka and Toby. "You made us worried sick when you fell off! How can you say that—" Yuka stopped halfway through his rant. "Were you speaking Minstrel earlier?" he questioned, recognizing Platin's accent to be similar to anyone who lived in southern Fiore, particularly on the coast. Minstrel and Fiore possessed sea routes with each other and occasionally brought immigrants and travelers into the other country.

"Uh, yeah?" Platin answered hesitantly as he removed his hands from his ears.

"Do you mind translating what you said earlier?"

"Well...can you tell me the parts I said in Minstrel?"

"You're making us remember it for you?" Toby exclaimed angrily, making Platin cover his ears again.

"I'm sorry! It's just that…well, I grew up speaking Minstrel and English, so I tended to mix the two together when I was talking without realizing it!" Platin defended, the accent and higher tone absent in his speech.

"How can you speak two languages at once without realizing it?!"

"That's easy for an idiot like you to—!"

"Both of you, enough!" By now, Yuka was exhausted. He wanted to sleep, maybe even take a leaf out of Platin's book and sleepwalk back to their hotel, but keeping Platin and Toby from going at each other was not how he wanted to spend the night. "You!" He pointed a finger at Toby, who flinched. "Be nice! And you!" Yuka did the same with Platin, who jolted. "One more stunt like that and I'll strap you to your bed!"

"Y-yes, sir!" Platin conceded.

"Oon~Platin's in trouble," Toby snickered behind Yuka.

"What did I just say?" Yuka barked to the dog-like man, making him cower. "Come on!" he yelled to his companions, continuing where they stopped on the trail. "The sooner we get back to town, the better!"

Not wanting to cross Yuka directly behind his back, Platin and Toby followed him back to town without delay.

* * *

That night, while Toby snored away and Yuka hugged his pillow in his sleep, Platin was the only member of the team who didn't sleep. Even though he went through the trouble of putting on comfortable sleep clothes, his body refused to retire for the night.

The boy adjusted his cap over his head to make sure that it wouldn't slip off. "Can't I get a good night's sleep?"

_What about all those naps today?_ a voice in Platin's head pointed out.

_Those don't count_, _and you know it_, another voice said calmly.

"Both of you, shut up," Platin muttered as quietly as possible.

_Yes, please do shut up._

_Never!_ Platin flinched at the harsh whip-like tone of the first voice. _A true Minstrel never yields!_

_Well, we can't all be Minstrel, can we, escargot lover?_

Platin pulled his hat over his ears and buried his face in the pillow, hoping to muffle the voices bickering in his mind.

* * *

"That was the best sleep I've ever had!" Yuka let out in relief as they left the inn.

"Oon."

"Platin, you?" Yuka did a double-take when he saw that Platin, instead of following them, slept on a bench nearby.

"Didn't you sleep at all last night?" Toby yelled at the boy. Platin simply dozed away, unable to hear Toby's words.

"Let's take that as a no," Yuka suggested. He blinked, noting that Platin's dark circles were a bit darker than before. Seeing the boy sleep without a care in the world made him feel a bit sympathetic. "You must be that sleep deprived, huh?"

"But he takes those naps every day!" the dog-like man pointed out. His words were loud enough to make Platin wake from his slumber.

"*Yawn* What time is it?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Well, we got half an hour until our train arrives," Yuka informed, looking at the clock post nearby. "So we could grab breakfast and look around until then."

"Mm-hm." Platin stood up, stretching. Dark green eyes combined with dark circles seemed to enhance Platin's sleep deprived appearance. "That sounds nice," he agreed. "I think I saw a magic shop yesterday. Can I go there first?"

"Let's do it." Platin set off first, with Toby and Yuka trailing after. The Wave had to admit how much better Platin looked when something caught his eye—

Yuka stopped in his tracks, recalling last night's events and what happened just seconds ago. There was something about Platin last night that Yuka knew for sure wasn't present this morning. Particularly—

"Weren't Platin's eyes _blue_ last night?"

**Author's note:**

**Would you like some translations?**

**_Je suis desolée—_**I am sorry

_**Messieurs**—_Plural for mister

**La lune—**the moon

_**Très belle**—_Very beautiful

**Remember to support my other story, **Anathema**!**


	7. First Rival

**X790, April 3, 11:00 AM**

"We're finally home!" Toby shouted as he and Yuka entered Lamia Scale's base.

"You don't have to scream it out loud," Yuka reminded while Ooba spun towards them.

"How was the mission?" the elderly woman asked, spinning her arms around each other.

"It went off without a hitch, granny."

"But how was_ Platin_?"

"Er..." Yuka rubbed the space between his abnormally large eyebrows, trying to keep his composure. "About that, Obaba—"

"He's a living hazard, granny!" Toby interjected from across the guild hall.

"Quit butting in!" The Wave yelled back before turning back to his guild master, who waited for him to continue. "You already know Platin's not a happy camper when we try to wake him up—"

"Toby and Lyon experienced it firsthand, I believe," Ooba added.

"OBABA!" The aforementioned wizards exclaimed indignantly.

"Please don't interrupt," Yuka said. "But wake him up and he's a monster! He threatened to murder Toby!"

"Oh?" Yuka's comment caught Ooba's attention enough to make her stop spinning her arms. Not just her, but many of the wizards in the guild looked at them after hearing what the Wave said. "What happened?"

"Right when we got on the train, he took one of his naps. Toby wanted to mess around with him, but the thing that gets me is how he knew what Toby was planning to do in his sleep."

"And when did Toby decide to pull this prank?"

"Just a minute after he fell asleep—"

"There you have it," Ooba declared. "No person can close their eyes and be totally asleep in one minute. Platin couldn't have been out cold completely when Toby wanted to mess with him."

"But you should have seen him when we woke him up!" Yuka cried, trying to get Ooba to understand what they saw. "His hair and eyes turned brown—he nearly broke Toby's wrist!"

"And what was Toby trying to do to the boy?" Ooba asked, now understanding why Toby's wrist was bandaged.

"He wanted to take Platin's cap off—"

"And there we go: the hat is important to Platin," the old lady concluded, spinning her arms again. "It's so special, he's the only person allowed to touch it."

"But no hat is worth killing a person over!" Yuka protested. "You know what he said?_ 'You're lucky that you caught me during my nap, but strike three and you're out.'_ Just try to explain that, Obaba!"

"It means Toby has to keep on his toes next time he's around Platin."

"Quit defending the kid, Obaba!"

"I'm not favoring the child, Yuka, and you know it!" Ooba snapped. "He just happens to be sleep deprived."

"And look where it almost got him last night—he fell off a cliff!" Yuka hissed.

"He what? Is he all right?"

"His naps are going to be the death of him one day, Obaba! He fell off a cliff in his sleep—and he _conveniently_ woke up during his fall! Then the kid decided to be an acrobat while we were panicking!"

"Platin was lucky to have known simple acrobatics," Ooba said. "Who knows what would have happened if he didn't when he woke up."

"You're defending him again!" Yuka yelled. "You always dote on the youngest members—"

"Because they're still growing children who have much to learn!" Ooba responded. "And I'm grateful for Platin's naps—he doesn't have to hear us quarreling about him!"

A chubby man tapped his master's shoulder. "Uh, Obaba?"

"What?"

"Platin's not here."

Yuka froze as Ooba turned towards him slowly after she scanned the guild hall for her youngest member. "Yuka...where is Platin?"

"I...he..." To be honest, Yuka had no idea. He could have sworn Platin followed him and Toby out of the train—but wasn't he following them while riding something else as well? And wasn't he sleeping as well? "At the last town...we went with him to a magic shop—"

"Don't tell me you left him there!"

"No!" Yuka instantly exclaimed. "But he...he got himself a magic carpet so he could follow us even in his sleep."

"Go on," Ooba prompted.

"He got off with us, Obaba, but he...went off...on his own."

"And you said he was sleeping?"

"The last time we saw him, yes."

"Then find him!" Ooba's loud outburst nearly knocked Yuka off his feet. "I don't care if that boy's a sleep-fighter, who knows where he might end up with his sleeping habit!"

* * *

At the top of a grassy hill, lying in the shade of a tree, Platin dozed away peacefully. His hair shifted between blonde and brown, like it always did underneath his blue cap. His new magic carpet—which he purchased from the magic shop in the town where their mission took place—floated beside him, rolled into a tasseled tube.

"Hey," a voice said. Inside, Platin sincerely hoped that wasn't a voice in his head acting as his alarm. "Hey, wake up."

"Hm?" A slightly disgruntled Platin woke up from his nap earlier than he would have liked when someone's hand shook his shoulder. The blond boy sat up, keeping a hand on his cap as his green eyes narrowed at the culprit's brown ones.

A boy with messy brown hair in his early teens grinned as he straightened his posture. Platin noticed that the other boy had an Eastern touch to his appearance: a blue shirt peeked out from underneath a white suikan with sleeves that came to his mid-forearm. The suikan was tied at the waist by a purple sash. Blue trousers stopped short of the ankles by a few inches, allowing his sandals to be visible. "Good, you're still alive," he commented as he fixed his tasseled beret, the only thing off about his outfit.

"...Who are you?" Platin asked.

"That's what I'm supposed to ask," the other boy replied, bending down slightly to grab Platin's wrist so he could pull him up. "I've been through this town lots of times, so I practically know who lives here and who doesn't. And you must be the newest face here."

"Mm-hm," the blond agreed drowsily, rubbing his eyes. Platin leaned against the tree trunk while the brown-haired boy rambled on.

"I heard rumors that Lamia Scale recruited this weird guy just weeks ago, so I came to see if they were true," the other boy continued, not taking notice of Platin's nodding head. "He's always found in a nap, but he can fight in his sleep. Say, do you know where Lamia Scale's base—" The young teenager did a double-take when he saw Platin sleeping against the tree trunk, this time standing up. "How can you fall asleep so fast?" he exclaimed, shaking Platin's shoulder again.

This time, Platin's left hand grabbed the hand that was shaking him and forced it behind the owner's head. But the other boy whirled around so that the arm that was supposed to be behind his head now wrapped around Platin's neck. The blond's elbow shot back, but the brown-haired teen caught it. However, that gave Platin the opportunity to hurl the teen away.

The brown-haired boy dusted himself off when he touched the ground. "Hey, hey! What gives—?" He took notice of the constant bobbing movements of Platin's head. "Wait...don't tell me..." He charged at full speed; Platin kicked off against the ground, throwing himself high into the air. The teen couldn't help but stop to watch Platin's descent to earth. He spun around in time to see the blond inverted in midair behind him, his expression composed while his eyes remained closed. His breath came out evenly, not in ragged pants like most combatants in a brawl. "He is!" he cried out.

As soon as those words left his mouth, Platin's eyes opened. Dark green eyes brightened as a light seemed to build up in them. A blinding radiance enveloped the area, originating from the inverted blond boy.

"Argh!" The brown-haired boy covered his eyes, reacting too late in his effort to shield them from the light.

When the light faded, the young teen looked at Platin, who proceeded to fix his hat. "So this kid...is the Sleeper?"

Platin yawned widely, his eyes blinking rapidly as he stretched his arms. "That was a nice nap," he mumbled. He noticed the brown-haired boy gaping at him, which made him feel...awkward. "Is...something wrong?"

The young teen pointed a finger at Platin. "You...don't you remember our fight?"

"A fight...?" Platin held his head, eyes riddled with confusion. "Wait..." He bent all the fingers on his left hand down except for the pinkie, which he used to point to himself. "Did I do something in my sleep?" He received a nod in response, making Platin bow his head. "This needs to stop soon," he muttered.

"Why? It's awesome, unique!" The brown-haired boy adjusted his tasseled beret. "Something like that is a talent worth keeping, Sleeper!"

Platin sighed. "But...wait, Sleeper?" he repeated.

"Yeah." The young teen leaned back and forth on his feet. "That's what they're calling you in the surrounding towns and villages. Heck, the rumors even reached my hometown."

That only made Platin look away sheepishly. "Great, now I'm the country's weirdo."

"Hey, there's weirder people in the country, Sleeper. You want proof? Blue Pegasus' Ichiya: tell me how _that_ happened."

Platin couldn't help but laugh at the other boy's statement. He held his stomach, his sides hurting from laughter.

"Hey." The unfamiliar boy pointed a finger at Platin again. "Your laugh...it's high-pitched—it makes you sound like a girl," he noted.

"Huh?" Platin stopped laughing once he heard those words.

"Say...did you hit puberty yet?" he wondered out loud.

"Uh...no?" Platin answered, the term unfamiliar to his ears.

"No?" The brown-haired boy grinned slowly. "Ha! That means I have a reason to call you _sissy_!"

The blond's ears twitched in annoyance. "That's just low, you know that?"

"Platin!" The two boys turned to see Yuka approaching them before skidding to a halt before his guild mate. The Wave faced the other boy, who observed them at a distance. "Who's this?" he asked. _And why do I get the feeling I've seen his face before?_ he added in his mind.

"I'm...just leaving. But listen well, Sleeper." The young teen pointed a challenging finger at Platin. "This isn't over yet—not by a long shot. The name's Ansen. Remember that name when I knock you out of dreamland, Sleeper." Ansen's right hand opened, a smoke bomb in his grasp. He threw it against the ground, creating a smoke cloud that enveloped him inside. When the smoke faded, Ansen was nowhere to be seen.

_I swear I saw that smoke bomb before_, Yuka thought. But he decided to ignore it...for now. "Let's head back, Platin."

* * *

"There you are, Platin!" Ooba exclaimed as Yuka and Platin walked over the threshold. "You aren't injured, are you?"

"I-I'm sorry, Obaba," Platin apologized, rubbing the top of his cap. "Did I worry you?"

"There really was no need to worry about you, though," Yuka added.

"Oh?" Ooba spun towards them with interest. "What happened, Yuka?"

"Guess who made his first rival today, Obaba?"

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	8. Postcognition

**_~Dream~_**

_Rufus knew this place; this large apartment located in the tranquil part of Crocus. How could he forget his childhood home?_

_He looked around, noticing how empty his former home seemed in the dream. The walls were bare and cabinets emptied as an elderly woman packed away their contents with his younger self's assistance._

_Rufus knew what point in his life this dream was taking place. This dream was the day he had to move out of his home in Crocus to live with his grandmother, just a week after his parents' funeral. So right now, his younger self was thirteen._

_Is there...someone else here? _The Rufus of reality thought, leaving the scene to wander the apartment.

_He didn't know why he was having dreams of his life before Saber Tooth. But he did know—he did remember—that the little girl from his last dreams didn't have a place in his memories._

_He passed his parents' room, empty and devoid of life with the deaths of its occupants. There was his room, vacant as well. And there it was: a room next door to his with its door ajar._

_Before he could move, his younger self walked past him and entered the adjacent room. Staying outside, the real Rufus peered into the room._

_There she was. His younger self stood before the same little girl from his last dreams. Her back was to him, but the younger Rufus brought out a handkerchief and wiped away something on her face—tears, perhaps?_

_His younger self extended his left hand towards the girl, who took it with her right. Young Rufus led her out of the room, walking past the real Rufus with the girl in tow._

* * *

**X790, April 10**

"Hey! Is someone in there?"

"Hm?" Rufus looked away from the request board to meet Sting, who snapped his fingers in his ear to grab his attention earlier. "Did you say something?"

"No," Sting said. "But Rietta over there—" The White Dragon Slayer jerked his head in the direction of the chef, who managed to run her station while helping Hestia with her last homework problem. "—asked if you began training yet."

"I have not."

"You'd better hustle with it, Lore," Rietta called. "It's that time of year again."

Rufus smiled slyly. "How could I forget?" With most of the guild absent due to training—a handful remaining to keep the guild running—it was hard to forget that the Grand Magic Games were taking place in less than three months. Not to mention that all eyes would be on Saber Tooth this year—just like the last three years of their reign.

"Which reminds me, I don't see you working on your magic, Sting," Rietta noticed as she sent a tray filled with food towards the wizard who ordered it.

"Sting-kun's strong already!" Lector defended, floating onto the bar counter. "Even without training, he's invincible!"

"Fro thinks so too!" Frosch agreed.

"That may be, but we still have one guild to watch out for," Rogue pointed out. "Lamia Scale."

"That second-rate guild?" Sting said haughtily.

"They're second to us, according to my memories," Rufus interjected as he picked a mission that caught his attention. "Take note that the Wizard Saint Jura is within their ranks."

"And somehow, they took second place every year, even without that man!" Rietta concluded. The woman with navy hair dusted off her apron, careful not to do so in Hestia's direction. "And Hestia, you have fifteen minutes until the train arrives."

"I do?" Hestia glanced at the clock, only to jolt in alarm when she saw the time. "Ah!" The purple and white-haired child jumped down from her stool with her folder in her hands. She landed next to her backpack, which she brought downstairs with her today.

"There's no need to rush," Rogue advised while Hestia fumbled with her bag's zipper. "Even if you went now, the train wouldn't come for another five minutes."

"Rogue is really smart," Frosch said, which earned him a pat on the head from his best friend.

"So who's taking—"

"I'll take her this time," Rufus said as he passed his job flyer over to Rietta for her inspection.

"You're not going off yet, Hestia," Rietta called over to Hestia, who already stood by the door. The chef stamped the flyer and slid it back to Rufus. "Now you can."

Hestia tried her best to reach the door handle, having to stand on her toes just to touch it with a finger. Sting couldn't help but feel sorry for Hestia as she continued her attempts. Rogue covered his eyes: no matter how many times he saw it, it was still painful to watch Hestia torture herself just to disprove her height.

"Lore," Rietta muttered, rubbing the space between her eyebrows. "Can you help her?"

Rufus smiled mentally as he made his way over to the door to end Hestia's torment. At the same time, her small stature concerned him. Compared to other children her age, she was behind in growth.

The doors opened even before Rufus put a hand on them. Standing in the doorway was the strongest wizard of Saber Tooth: Minerva.

"Milady!" Rufus exclaimed, taking off his hat as a show of respect.

"M-Minerva-sama," Hestia stammered. "Welcome back."

Rufus found it strange that Hestia had to address her older sister by adoption formally, but Minerva didn't want it any other way. The first time Hestia tried to address Minerva in a familiar way, Rufus half-expected a strike coming for Hestia after seeing Minerva's displeased expression. However, Hestia did receive a light lecture from the lady on how to address her from then on.

Minerva looked down at Hestia, her smile both warm and predatory. It looked as if Minerva was deciding whether or not to devour the little girl who was her little sister. "Do you need to leave for school already?" she asked.

"Y-yes."

"Don't stammer. You must be poised and confident when you speak. Understand?"

"Yes, Minerva-sama."

"Good." Minerva patted Hestia's head, which was something she rarely did. "I've held you up long enough. Why don't you hurry along? You must be running late."

* * *

The train pulled into the platform just when Rufus and Hestia arrived at the station. "It's here! It's here!" Hestia cried.

Rufus rushed towards the ticket vendor, keeping his cool even while Hestia panicked at the thought of losing her punctuality streak. The masked man didn't know if she had inherited it from her parents—though he would bet that it came from her mother—or if Master Jiemma drilled it into her.

"Follow me," he instructed, leading the way towards the platform. Their feet may have fallen at the same pace, but Rufus took longer strides. Hestia had to chase after him just to catch up.

"Wait! Wait for me!" Hestia finally caught up to Rufus and grabbed his hand. The moment she did, Rufus' eyesight diminished.

Rufus stopped in his tracks, holding his head as dark spots clouded over his vision. He heard Hestia call out to him, alarm in her voice as she repeatedly asked what was wrong. Hestia's voice faded, eventually replaced by two other voices.

_"Wait! Wait for me!" A little girl's voice cried. _Rufus wondered if it was Hestia, but brushed that theory away: this girl's voice was slightly higher-pitched, but not enough to be annoying.

_"We have to hurry!"_ Rufus instantly recognized the other voice as his when he was younger. _"We promised we'd be back by eight!"_

_"But—OOMPH!"_

_"—are you okay?" _

_The response was a loud sniffle, as if the girl who fell was crying. "No..."_

_"You scraped your legs—"_

"Rufus-san? Rufus-san!" Rufus came back to reality slowly, greeted by Hestia's concerned face meeting his at eye level. The masked man realized he had fallen to his knees during his temporary moment of blindness. "Are you okay?"

Rufus didn't know how to answer that: he didn't know why he was subject to post-cognitive dreams of his past or why he just heard himself in the past speaking to a little girl other than Hestia. He knew that the girl he was speaking to in that conversation wasn't Hestia: the Telekinetic child never scraped her legs from a fall before.

"Are you coming or not?" The conductor yelled to them.

"Rufus-san," Hestia started, "if you're not feeling well...you don't have to go with me to school. I could go by myself—"

"No." Rufus stood up, the last traces of his "blindness" fading. "I'll go with you, Hestia. After all, how would I live with myself if I let you go off on your own?"

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	9. Miss Tina?

**X790, April 10, 8:45 AM**

**Lamia Scale**

Staring at a map, Ooba frowned while her subordinates went about their usual business. She tapped an area with her bony finger. "No...he wouldn't be able to live there."

"Ooba-dono?" Ooba looked up to see Jura approach her. The Wizard Saint glanced at the map that his master was inspecting. "Are you looking for one of our comrades?"

"No," Ooba answered. "What makes you say that?"

Jura cleared his throat. "Well, the fact that you're looking at a map of our town gives me the idea that you might be looking for someone. Unless we have yet to receive news about a criminal in our midsts, I would think that you're looking for someone, Ooba-dono."

Ooba sighed. "I really can't hide a thing from you, Jura. All right, it's...Platin."

"Platin-dono? Didn't he say a few days ago that he would be gone for a while?"

"It's not that, but something else that gets me." Ooba pointed at a location on a map. "This is the boys' dorms for our guild. Platin is obviously too young to be living on his own, so it would seem likely that he would rent a dorm here. Yet from what Yuka and Toby tell me, Platin never came by."

"Unless Platin-dono's parents live nearby," Jura pointed out. One of his fingers tapped a road leading out of the town that housed Lamia Scale. "I believe this city is no more than a ten minute walk from here."

"I don't think his parents would allow him to join a guild at so young an age," Ooba said as her arms spun around each other. "Or any guardian on that matter."

"So what you're suggesting is that Platin-dono's parents are no longer of this world, Ooba-dono?"

Ooba nodded solemnly. "I've always wondered if that was the case, and it seems possible. But there's something else that bothers me: if Platin's not staying at the guild's dorm, then where is he staying?"

* * *

**8:45 AM**

Hestia ran off first, keeping herself ahead of Rufus but stopping occasionally so he could catch up. It was supposed to be the other way around, but Rufus' "blackout" from earlier worried the child. Rufus could discern that much, and part of him appreciated the fact that his master's adopted child worried for his well-being.

Inside, however, his mind was in turmoil. It was bad enough when those dreams came along, where what he would see matched his memory, except for the little blond girl added to the scene. But to hear himself conversing with a voice he knew he didn't remember left him on his knees, just like at the train station. He knew his memories were never wrong, but some part of him refused to let go of the memory of those dreams.

So why did that part want to hold onto a child who only existed in his dreams?

A nearby explosion caught the attention of Hestia and Rufus, both of whom stared in the direction of the blast. "That's where my school is!" Hestia cried, seeing smoke rise in the distance.

"No!" Rufus grabbed Hestia's hand when he saw that she was about to run. The masked wizard half-expected another "blackout" to occur, but nothing happened. "You can't go there by yourself, Hestia!"

"But Rufus-san—!"

"Hold my hand! And under no circumstances are you to let go!" Hestia looked into his eyes; she nodded, tightening her grip on his hand. The two set off for Hestia's school, the child praying that nothing was wrong.

Rufus winced as his head throbbed, signalling a headache._ No, now isn't the time,_ he thought. The Memory-Make wizard managed to force back the headache, keeping his mind focused on the emergency at hand.

"Unhand that child!" A female voice yelled as they grew closer to the school, where people crowded at the closed gates.

Hestia gasped when her ears picked up the voice. "That's Miss Tina!"

"Is she your teacher?" he asked.

The purple and white-haired child nodded frantically. "She's my favorite teacher—she teaches Telekinesis!"

"Who are you to talk, girl, when you're a child yourself?" A gruff male voice leered.

Rufus and Hestia came to a stop near the crowd. "What's the matter?" Rufus asked the closest bystander.

"Those cowards!" The woman he spoke to screamed, tears of fury in her eyes. "A band of thieves robbed our bank. The authorities nearly caught up to them, but the thieves reached this school and now they're holding the children hostage!"

"Where are the teachers?" Rufus inquired. "I recall that this is a school that teaches magic."

The woman inclined her head towards the gates. "One of the goons has the teachers trapped in the school. The only one who's outside with the ringleader is a teacher as young as the children themselves! She doesn't have a chance!"

Hestia stamped her foot. "Miss Tina isn't weak! She's a good teacher!" she protested.

"A good teacher," the woman agreed, "but not a good fighter. Our only hope is that she can hold the thugs at bay until real help arrives."

A small smile formed on Rufus' lips before a chuckle followed after, drawing the woman's eyes towards him. "'Real help'? Please tell me you don't mean the kingdom's soldiers, the ones incapable of using magic. Tell me you're not relying on them to settle this situation, madam." He lifted his head, dark green eyes reflecting an eerie glint. "The melody of discord has been sung. Their children are trapped, yet the parents of the young magic users won't lift a hand to aid them?"

"R-Rufus-san?" Hestia wondered nervously.

The masked wizard let go of the child's hand. "Stay here, Hestia. It isn't safe for you."

"Okay."

"You have some nerve thinking you can take those thugs on, young man!" The woman called as Rufus approached the high brick wall. "You're making a mistake by underestimating those gunslingers behind this wall!"

"I must disagree with you, madam. Your mistake—" Rufus jumped onto the wall with ease, looking back at the skeptical woman. "—is thinking that you could underestimate a Saber Tooth wizard."

"Hey, is that—?"

"It's Rufus of Saber Tooth!"

"Rufus-san, be careful!" Hestia called as Rufus disappeared on the other side of the wall.

* * *

The first thing that caught the Minstrel's attention was the back of the giant man who could rival Orga in size. And the same man dangled a child by their ankles, holding a gun to their head.

"Miss Tina!" the child cried. "Help!"

Rufus looked around until he found a group of children hiding behind an older girl with a large shoulder bag slung from her right shoulder across her chest. She couldn't have been more than twelve, by her appearance. Her blonde hair was pulled back into multiple ponytails, all bundled together by a large, sturdy ribbon.

"One false move and the kid's brains splatter!" The giant man crowed, taking joy in the young teacher's inability to act.

The girl known as Miss Tina bit her lip, unable to lift a finger without endangering a student's life._ I have to do something_, she thought. _I have to save him._

"Memory-Make: Howl of the White Fang!" A cold gale blew furiously as a blizzard knocked the giant off his feet, making him release his hostage. The little boy ran towards the older girl while she looked for the savior.

The giant's attention was now on Rufus, who stood with his arms behind his back. The young man kept his expression neutral while the young teacher floated students over the wall and out of harm's way. "You'll pay for that, punk!" he yelled, aiming the gun at the masked wizard.

He fired without a second thought, but his bullets passed through Rufus' body. "Huh?"

"That's your memory of where I _was_." The giant found Rufus standing at the other side of the courtyard, smiling triumphantly.

"Why you—!" The thief pulled the trigger, but no bullets came out. Screaming with rage, the giant charged towards Rufus.

A ray of light snaked towards the giant, but instead of hitting him directly, the light beam continued its erratic movements. Both Rufus and the giant couldn't help but watch the light's movements. It was like the beam was trying to decide who to attack, and it finally decided to nail the thief in the face. "Argh!" The thief covered his eyes, blinded by the harsh brightness. Rufus looked for the caster of the spell, his eyes landing on the young teacher, who held her left hand out in his direction.

The giant got back on his knees, attempting to pull himself up. But another force lifted him high above the ground, dangling him upside down.

The doors to the school opened and two men exited the school, holding large bags. "Hey, what—" Their words were cut off when their large companion hurled towards them, burying them under his weight.

_That was Telekinesis_, Rufus noted mentally. "Would I be correct to assume that _you_ are Miss Tina?" He still had his doubts that this girl could be a teacher, when her age clearly stated she was as much a child as the young students.

"Then am I correct to assume that you are Rufus Lore?" she returned, her voice carrying an accent that wasn't present before.

"Get—off, Lardo!" One of the thieves rolled the giant off himself, but his companion who shared the same fate remained unconscious. "You can't shoot a mage and expect a bullet to hit! You gotta fight fire with fire—magic with magic!"

On cue, flames erupted from the palm of the thief's hand. He drew his hand back and a ring of fire trapped Rufus and Miss Tina inside. The inferno grazed Tina's leg as she drew back from the edge. Her back collided with Rufus', whose real body was also within this blazing circle. Proud of his handiwork, the thief went back to grab the bags of money to take for himself.

"Little girl," Rufus said, which made Tina twist her head to look at him. "I don't know how the staff viewed you as a suitable teacher for these children when you're a child yourself. But the fact that you are suggests that you have experience in combat, yes?"

"In this school, I'm their teacher. But outside of theses walls, I'm simply a local girl who takes on magic-related jobs to earn most of her living," Tina responded, blue eyes trying to see past the blazing circle to find the thief.

"Is that so? If you don't mind, Miss Tina, will you assist me? I'm afraid I don't have any memories of Water Magic to counter this fire."

Miss Tina smiled, something that struck Rufus oddly for some reason. "_Vous aider, Monsieur Lore_?" Rufus blinked: the last time he heard someone address him by that title was during a train ride with a boy. And that was the same boy who asked him what he had forgotten. "_Si nous nous souvenons bien_, you are the man who gives life to memories, _non_?"

"_Oui, c'est vrai_," Rufus answered back in Minstrel. A voice in the back of his head asked him how long had it been since the last time he spoke one word of Minstrel, but he brushed that thought aside to return to the crisis at hand. "While I would enjoy continuing this conversation in Minstrel, the thief will be using that time to escape."

"_Je ne suis pas une magicienne de combat_," Miss Tina informed. "My magic doesn't serve well if I am to fight. However, what I can give you is—an opening!" She swiped her left arm through the air: the inferno blew out as if they were candle flames. And in the same direction where she extended her arm, the thief stood there with a giant bag slung over his shoulder.

Rufus put his fingers to his temples. "Memory-Make—" The red magic seal unique to Rufus appeared behind him, followed closely by spiraling chains of memories. The ground where he stood slowly turned orange before spreading out to the rest of the area. Even the blue sky gained a reddish-orange shade. All of a sudden, it felt too warm for Miss Tina and the thief.

Deciding to take advantage of Rufus needing time to cast his spell, the thief aimed a stream of fire at him. Miss Tina shot her left hand out: light particles collided with the flame before the entire spell faded from existence. "What the—?"

Rock columns that resembled mountains with rivers of lava on the surface erupted from the ground, surrounding the thief. Rufus put a hand on his hat as he crouched down to touch the earth with his hand. "Karma of the Burning Land!" The spot where he placed his hand was set ablaze, and the inferno grew in size as it grew closer to the thief, farther away from Rufus. The young teacher gasped inaudibly at the spectacle, watching it strike the thief directly.

The orange glow in the atmosphere disappeared; Rufus returned to a proper standing position as he observed the result with pride. The thief lay on the ground, his clothes tattered and skin seared.

"He got them!" Applause erupted from the other side of the gates as they opened, allowing a squad of Rune Knights and some kingdom soldiers to spill into the school courtyard.

"Mister Lore." Rufus turned to look at the Rune Knight that addressed him. "Thanks for your cooperation in apprehending these thieves. We'll make sure to send word of this to Saber Tooth."

"Thank you."

"Is it the bandit group Bacchus?" A Rune Knight asked another as he apprehended one of the thieves.

"Negative, Captain," another Rune Knight replied, inspecting the other two thieves near the school doors. "They don't have the symbol anywhere."

"All right. Take them away."

It took six Rune Knights—three on either side—to lift the giant thief and haul him away. Once the thieves were led out of the school boundaries, the children poured back in.

"Rufus-san! Miss Tina!" Hestia ran over to the two blonds but slipped due to her speed and fell.

"Hestia!" Rufus made a move towards the adopted child of his master, but the young teacher reached her first. "Are you all right?" Tina asked as she dusted Hestia lightly in an effort to remove any dirt.

"Yes—Miss Tina, you're hurt!" Hestia exclaimed, pointing to her teacher's left ankle. Rufus glanced at the area that Hestia indicated: not only did the fire burn off part of her sock, but parts of her skin.

"I—when did that get there?" Tina mumbled as she bent down to inspect her injury. She touched it gingerly, drawing her fingers back quickly when it stung.

"It's only a first degree burn," Rufus said, drawing Hestia and Tina's eyes towards him. "According to my memories, treatment within thirty minutes of the burn will reduce the depth and pain."

"Miss Tina's first aid kit!" Hestia ran over to Tina's left side, where her bag sat next to her. She fumbled with the clasp of the bag, but got it open in the end. The purple and white-haired child dug through the bag until she pulled out a large white tin with a red cross on the lid.

"You keep a first aid kit in your bag?" the masked wizard asked.

"I...tend to be extremely clumsy," Tina admitted as she opened the tin box. Its contents were slightly disorganized—or was it like that already?—but Tina grabbed a burn patch and ripped it open.

Rufus held his right ear as a loud snapping noise sounded next to it. Black spots danced over his eyes once more. He could faintly hear Hestia calling out to him, but it wasn't just her voice this time. Tina's voice joined her too, asking what was wrong.

* * *

Rufus' vision cleared, allowing him to see his surroundings. He wasn't in the school courtyard anymore; what was he doing in his childhood home?

"You're really clumsy," a boy's voice said, followed by the sound of tearing paper. Rufus looked in the direction of the voice: there was his younger self, throwing away the wrapper for a disinfectant wipe.

"I'm sorry." Rufus recognized that voice: that was one of the voices he heard during his "blackout" at the train station. If his intuition was correct, then a little blonde girl was due to be nearby. Sure enough, his younger self knelt before a little blonde girl who sat in a chair. From where he stood, he could see scrapes on her knees.

"This is going to sting." Younger Rufus quickly disinfected her scrapes, but the chemicals in the wipe still made the girl wince. Two more sets of torn paper later, younger Rufus applied bandages on her knees. "There you go. You're all better—" His younger self mouthed something, but no sound came out.

Rufus felt like he needed to get his vision checked, because the infernal black spots clouded over his eyes again. The last thing he ever saw was his younger self staring at the spot where he stood.

* * *

"Rufus-san! Rufus-san!" When his vision cleared for the third time today, Rufus found himself on his knees once again. His right hand held his forehead while his breath escaped in slow pants. Three times today—or two, if he wanted to argue the time at which his dream took place—his mind played tricks with him. Three times he blacked out, but only twice did he hear voices, including his own.

_What's happening to me?_ he thought, his mind in a state of disarray.

"Are you okay?" Rufus looked up to see dark green eyes belonging to the young teacher staring at him in concern.

Wait...dark green?

"You." Tina's eyes widened as Rufus tilted her head back so that he could look at them better. There was no mistaking it. "According to my memories...your eyes were _blue_."

**Author's Note:**

**Yes, there was French to this chapter. And I decided to make the country of Minstrel the Earthland equivalent of France, which I mentioned before in previous chapter. So if any character speaks French in this story, the language will be referred to as Minstrel. I just wanted to include the French language.**

**I am not a native French-speaker. French is my third language, English is my second. Though you would think that the latter is my first from how I speak it.**

**I realize some translations are in order, and please forgive me if I have gotten any of these translations—both French and English—wrong.**

**Vous aider**—Help you

**Monsieur**— commonly used as 'mister'

**Si nous nous souvenons bien**—if we remember

**Non**—no

**Oui, c'est vrai**—Yes, it's true

**Je ne suis pas**—I am not

**Un(e)**—one or a, it can be either, depending on the gender of the object. In this case, une was used

**Magicien(ne)**—Magician, wizard. This is also a word where the spelling varies by gender. Since Tina is a girl, the extra ne was added.

**De combat**—of combat, or of battle

**Yes, I will get to work on the next chapter of Anathema. For now, read and review my stories!**


	10. Oblivious

A girl sat on a dark pink shore, holding a fishing rod. With her line cast into the murky lake, all she had to do was wait for the hook to grab something.

"You know, a net would work better than that old rod," a boy's voice from behind informed her gently.

The girl's head whirled, nine blonde ponytails held together by a sturdy ribbon following her movements. "Oh, it's you, Platin," she said in relief. "But if you're here...then who's—"

"Don't worry," Platin told her as he sat down next to her. "I made sure to lock some doors. We don't intend to start before nine o'clock."

The blonde girl with nine ponytails smiled sadly. "Do you think some locks and a wake-up call are really going to stop anyone from sneaking out?"

"It didn't stop you, did it?"

"..." The nine-tailed girl returned her attention to the lake while she reeled the line in.

"Fishing lines break easily," the blond schoolboy said.

"Nets break eventually," she returned, still waiting for the hook to pick up something.

"But the will to hold on doesn't."

The nine-tailed girl looked at her shoes, dark green eyes refusing to meet Platin's eyes of the same shade. "...It does," she whispered.

"Think positive," Platin encouraged.

"What's the point?" she asked. "If this doesn't let up...I won't be here anymore."

Something blue fell over her eyes while hands lifted the corners of her mouth. The girl lifted the object on her head to see Platin with his hands on her cheeks and with his cap off. "Not if I can help it," he said.

Behind them, using a corridor wall to hide, a brown-haired boy smirked. "Not if you can't stop it," he sneered in a low voice.

* * *

**X790, April 11, 8:00 AM**

In the town where Lamia Scale was located, many of its locals stared at the sight of a blue-capped blond boy sleeping on a magic carpet that seemed to know its destination.

"Isn't that the Sleeper?"

"I thought he'd be older."

"He must be talented if he was able to enter Lamia Scale at that age."

* * *

"It's too quiet," Ooba muttered as she spun her arms around. "And where's that tea I ordered?" she added.

"Y-yes, Granny!" Immediately, a slightly plump man hurried over with a tray that held a teacup and teapot. "Here's your tea, Granny!"

A knock at the doors caught the guild's attention. "Someone get that!" Ooba yelled, prompting Yuka to open them wide. The Wave saw the Sleeper floating outside on his carpet, waiting for someone to let him inside the guild.

"Hey, Platin," Yuka greeted as he stepped aside so that Platin and his magic carpet could come in.

"...mh..." was all Platin mumbled while his new magic carpet floated him over to the request board.

"Is that the boy you were telling me about?" Sherry asked when Yuka returned to his seat. "The sleepy one?"

"More like the living dead!" Toby shot back.

"Do you have to make such a big deal out of it?" Yuka asked tiredly.

"Platin." Ooba spun her finger around, redirecting the carpet's path towards her. "Sonny, you need to wake up first. Here, have some oolong tea," she offered, holding out a cup of tea for her youngest subordinate to drink.

"Ehh?" By now, most of Lamia Scale's ranks were baffled by their master's behavior. Ooba was known for berating her subordinates if she found a fault in them, as well as ordering them to work extra hard, especially since the Grand Magic Games were coming up in a little less than three months. She did show compassion for them once in a while, but most of the time, she could usually be found yelling at someone. So to see her act so motherly—er, _grandmotherly_ was very rare.

"...mh-hm..." Though anyone could tell he was still sleeping, Platin accepted the tea from Ooba and drank it slowly. It was a wonder how he could still keep his poise even in his sleep.

The Sleeper placed the cup on the counter, still showing no signs of waking...yet. Ooba watched Platin's eyelids blink rapidly before they opened slowly. The blond boy stretched his arms out, signalling his awakening. "*Yawn*...ah?" Platin blinked, trying to adjust to the lighting of the guild. "Um...how did I get here?" he asked as he used his left pinkie finger to point to himself.

"Your magic carpet brought you," Ooba said, gesturing to the textile underneath the boy.

"Is that right?" Platin rubbed his eyes in an attempt to remove any tears of exhaustion. "That much I can tell...but I can't remember how I woke up this morning...or how I got dressed. But I know I went to sleep last night...I should have..."

Ooba patted Platin's shoulder. "Don't strain your mind too much over it, Platin. I'm sure another cup of tea will jog your memory."

"Thank you...Obaba." Platin poured himself a cup of tea and sipped it carefully, frowning at its taste. "It's...a bit strong," he mumbled in a small voice.

"Something to keep you alert for the day," Ooba added, returning to the usual routine of spinning her arms around.

"Oon~see, she babies him," Toby said.

"It's a sign of love!" Sherry sighed.

"He's young, that's why. But..." One of Yuka's enormous eyebrows twitched in annoyance. "That kid's a disaster waiting to happen," he muttered.

"Let's see...what should I do today?" Platin scanned the request board, his dark green eyes more alert than they were minutes ago. Despite this, his dark circles weren't planning to go anywhere.

"Isn't he too young to go off on his own?" Sherry wondered out loud.

"He is," Yuka agreed. "Which is why Obaba is going to make someone go with him once he picks his mission. Which should be—"

"Obaba!" Platin rushed over to Ooba with a flyer in his hand.

"Now," Yuka finished.

Ooba read over the flyer while her stamp hovered over it, waiting for her approval. "A simple job of organizing a library archive," she noted, "and the client's town is a ten minute walk from here. But Platin...are you sure you can stay awake through this job? Organizing files can be tedious."

"...I'm sure I can stay awake this time," Platin assured, though the yawn that followed after didn't convince Ooba entirely.

_This time?_ was the thought that ran through the minds of many of his guild mates.

"Hm..." After a scrutinizing stare that left Platin uneasy, Master Ooba finally stamped the flyer. "I'll let you go off on your own this time, Platin. But just for luck—" Ooba shoved the cup back into his hands, nearly spilling the aromatic liquid all over the boy's front. "Have some more tea. It's guaranteed to keep you awake."

* * *

_Don't you think you should have told la vielle that the tea was useless?_ An accented voice ran in Platin's mind as he journeyed alone on the road to the next town.

"She wouldn't take no for an answer," Platin murmured, the memory of Ooba trying to force Platin to drink every drop of tea still fresh in his mind.

_Now, now,_ a calmer and mature voice entered the mental conversation. _Both of you know that Master Ooba was trying to look out for us._

_The tea was too strong!_ Platin winced at the harsh whip-like tone of the accented voice. _The imbecile that prepared it steeped it for too long!_

_Most likely on Master Ooba's orders_, the calm voice returned, its gentle tone soothing to Platin's mind. _We all know that Master Ooba was—_

_Master Ooba this! Master Ooba that! For once, tais-toi!_

"Both of you—especially _toi_—shut up," Platin mumbled, tugging the cap down.

_Yes, please do shut up._

_Moi? Jamais! Why don't you go back to sleep, petite amie?_ The accented voice added, switching to a lulling tone.

_No, no, don't listen to_—

Too late. Platin's eyes drooped while his breathing slowed. The blond schoolboy dropped to his knees before he finally collapsed at the crossroads. The last thing he heard were feet breaking into a run from the right fork.

* * *

"'Ansen, you should join this guild! Ansen, why did you join that guild? Ansen, you have to prove you're stronger than that woman's son!' Mama, will you stuff a sock in it?" Realizing how ridiculous he sounded by mimicking his mother's rant, Ansen sighed as he walked the road by himself. "Someday, I'll prove them wrong."

"You hear that, cousin?" Ansen yelled at the sky, waving a fist at the endless frontier. "One of these days, I'll beat you in front of the whole world!"

"...I can already hear him telling me to get real," he mumbled, looking down at the ground.

"Argh!" He took his frustrations out on a small rock near his foot, kicking it with all he had. He lifted his head to watch the rock's flight, only to see a collapsed body at the intersection of the three roads. "AH!" he cried, running towards the body. _Please tell me that wasn't because of the rock I kicked_, he pleaded in his head. The brown-haired boy with the tasseled cap knelt beside the body. "Wake up! I didn't mean to kick that rock, so please forgive me!"

"...So loud..." Ansen's ears twitched: he heard that voice before. And he swore he knew that blue cap along with the hair underneath it that shifted from brown to blond.

As if to confirm his suspicions, Platin lifted himself on his knees while his hands pushed against the ground to help him get back on his feet. "What happened?"

"You okay, Sleeper?"

"Um...did I fall asleep on the road?" Platin asked, pointing his left pinkie to himself.

Ansen nearly fell, dumbfounded. _What is this kid?_ he thought, leaving Platin to dust himself off drowsily. _How many hours of sleep does he get, anyway?_ "You weren't hit by anything, were you?" Ansen asked slowly, hoping that it really wasn't the rock he kicked.

The blond schoolboy rubbed his eyes. "Other than a nap, no. Why?"

Ansen sighed in relief. "No reason," he said quickly, adjusting his hat. "But why were you sleeping on the road in the first place?"

"I didn't mean to," Platin countered as he adjusted his bag strap over his shoulders. "I just fall asleep whether I like it or not."

"Mh-hm."

"The client probably thinks I'm late."

"Wait." Ansen pointed to the left fork. "Are you heading in that direction?"

* * *

A young man with dark green hair glanced at the grandfather clock in the library's foyer. "That's odd," he murmured as he drummed his fingers on the counter. "The old lady said that the kid would be here by now."

The doors to the library opened, bringing his attention to the entrance as two boys came in. "There you are!" he cried as he rushed towards them. "And here I was thinking that no one would turn up."

"I'm late, aren't I?" Platin asked tentatively.

The librarian waved a hand dismissively. "I'm just glad someone actually came to help me. But...your master said that only one person would come, didn't she?" he added.

"About that!" Ansen rested an elbow on Platin's head, much to his annoyance; after all, the brown-haired boy was taller than the blond schoolboy by a few inches. "My friend's not feeling too well—in fact, he collapsed on the way here."

"You don't have to tell him that," Platin mumbled as he pulled his hat over his eyes. The green-haired librarian raised an eyebrow at Ansen's words.

"So I came with him to help him get the job done," Ansen finished, adjusting his own hat with his free hand. "I hope you don't mind?"

"Of course not." The librarian gestured to several boxes stacked on top of each other near a locked door. "I could use all the help available. Archiving the city's records by myself isn't easy."

"The city's records?" Platin blurted. "I thought the job was to organize the library's archive."

"Yes...in a way." The librarian led them over to the boxes by the door. Both boys could see that the door was heavily padlocked, and the schoolboy was prepared to bet that some enchantments were put into effect, too. "The mayor asked me to file away every file on every citizen and public records of this city in the library...for the time being. Normally he would store them in the basement of town hall, but the entire building is under renovation due to a fire caused by some bandits yesterday."

"Wait...bandits?" The blond put a hand to his forehead, eyes clouded with uncertainty. "There were bandits yesterday?"

"Yes," the green-haired man said as if bandits attacking the town were a daily occurrence. "Weren't you in town yesterday?"

"I was...but I don't remember any bandits attacking...I would have remembered if there were," Platin replied in a small voice.

"Maybe you were taking one of your naps when it happened," Ansen cut in, rapping his knuckles on Platin's cap.

"Naps?" The green-haired librarian bent down to eye level with Platin and inspected his dark circles. "Whoa, someone needs to get to bed early!"

"But not too early," the darker of the two boys added with a broad smile.

"So don't fall asleep on me," the librarian finished with a grin as wide as Ansen's. "Now if you boys will follow me." The dark green-haired man unlocked each padlock with a ring of keys that hung from his belt loop. When all the padlocks were unlocked, the man pushed open the door, revealing a set of stairs that led down.

Platin peered down the dark stairway fearfully. "We have to carry these boxes down—" The blond boy gulped. "—there?" he squeaked.

"And you have to unpack every box and store every file in the filing cabinets alphabetically," the librarian added, nodding his head in agreement.

"It's not like you're afraid of the dark, are you, Sleeper?" Ansen joked, elbowing his rival. Platin's head bowed as his body slouched. Ansen's joking smile fell. "Wait, you are?"

"...Tch." Platin returned to a proper posture as his head whirled to face Ansen. The scared visage from earlier was gone, replaced by a more confident expression. "In your dreams, wannabe ninja," Platin scoffed, heading down the stairs to prove his point. "Snap to it, unless you're afraid that I really will beat you in a fight?" he added, brown eyes glittering with malice.

Ansen's ears twitched at Platin's nickname for him. "Do not call me a wannabe ninja."

"Or what?" Platin challenged.

Gritting his teeth, Ansen tried to roll up the sleeves of his suikan in an attempt to look tougher, but he failed miserably as his sleeves just came back down. "When this is over, don't blame me if you run home crying, Sleeper," he warned as he followed after Platin with two large boxes in his hands. "And you're one to talk—you're not even hauling a thing!"

"Oh?" Platin snapped his fingers loudly: Ansen had to move out of the way as multiple boxes floated past him. The Sleeper pointed his right index finger down the dark corridor and the boxes followed his command by floating in the direction he indicated. "You were saying?" he drawled as the sound of boxes being set down were made clear to the trio.

The green-haired librarian chuckled lightly while Ansen followed after Platin; the former of the two fumed at being shown up in front of a client. He looked behind himself to see that all the boxes were gone. "What do you know? I just might get done before lunch," he mused as he followed after the boys.

"Where's a knife when you need one?" Platin grumbled as he looked for an object sharp enough to cut through the annoying tape.

"Ahem." The Sleeper wheeled around to look at Ansen, who rested an elbow on an open box while holding what looked to be a kunai. "Need one of these?" he asked teasingly.

"Heh." The kunai knife escaped Ansen's hand and flew into Platin's. "I stand corrected: you are a ninja," Platin said as his bangs fell over his left eye, which gave him a darker look, especially when his hair now looked light brown in the poor lighting. Platin smirked as steam came out of Ansen's ears. The dark-haired boy tried think of how_ not_ to wring his rival's neck before noon while contemplating how to do the opposite without getting in trouble for it.

Platin cut the tape that bound the first box he decided to work on. As he finally opened it, he scanned the contents: like the librarian promised, there were files on the citizens of this town. And from the looks of it, he stumbled upon the files of citizens with a surname that started with 'L'. "This is surprisingly small," he noted.

"Well, this isn't a large town," the librarian said, having heard what the smaller of the two boys said. "The population is tiny compared to Crocus."

"Makes sense." Platin made his way over to a filing cabinet labelled with an 'L' on the side. "It looks like this is all the L's," he added, noting how the surnames in the box only went from Landon to Lynwood.

A certain name in the middle of the box caught Platin's attention. Brown eyes lit up in surprise as he tugged the file out from between 'Loran' and 'Lorenz'.

"Hello~What are you still doing here?" he wondered darkly.


	11. In the Dark of the Night

Brown eyes darted around to make sure they weren't being watched. His self-proclaimed rival busied himself over the files that needed to be transferred to the cabinets while the green-haired librarian made sure that every record was accounted for. Neither of them could see the devious look on his face.

So why did he still feel like he was being watched?

He found the answer high above him, a large eye embedded in the ceiling. He found three more "eyes" spaced apart from the first in a large square formation. Surveillance Lacrima, and they looked like they were just installed. It wouldn't be easy to smuggle the file he held in his hands.

"Don't fall asleep on us, Sleeper!" That shout broke Platin from his trance, causing him to jolt back to life. "If you go to sleep, I get to take the whole reward!" Ansen yelled.

"Oh?" Putting the file back, Platin stuffed the entire "L" collection into a single cabinet with ease, slamming the drawer shut afterwards. "I don't seem to remember agreeing to split the reward, Ansen," he said smoothly, brown eyes blending quickly into dark green while glittering with amusement.

"Hey, I brought you here after you collapsed." Ansen crossed his arms, making sure not to cut his shirt with the kunai he held in his hand. "So that means I get some credit for assisting."

Platin let out a small laugh. "Is that so?"

The green-haired librarian smiled as he watched the two boys bicker as they worked, tossing occasional remarks while opening boxes and filing away city records. But at the same time, he couldn't help but feel...reminiscent. Somehow, these boys reminded him of his previous occupation. "Now that I look at them," he murmured under his breath, "they do resemble _those_ two."

* * *

**11:45 AM**

"Cheers, Sleeper!" The two boys left the library, each carrying an envelope containing his share of the reward.

"Mh..." Platin simply stared at the ground, dragging his heels as he walked. Suddenly a hand slapped his back, breaking his reverie a second time. "Wah!"

"Don't go to sleep! You promised me a one-on-one match, Sleeper!" Ansen reminded his light-haired rival, who only nodded slowly to confirm this.

"Just let me put my reward away—" Platin's hands met empty space when he reached for his left side. The Sleeper's head immediately looked at his left hip, where his satchel usually hung beside. "My bag!"

"You probably left it at the library."

"Let me get it first! Then I'll give you that battle, Ansen!"

"Don't keep me waiting!" Ansen called to his retreating rival.

* * *

The green-haired librarian saw the satchel that belonged to one of his helpers from earlier. He picked it up, hoping to find a name tag. "Now that I look back on it, I never knew his name," he said to himself. "But he'll probably come back for it."

*Knock* *Knock*

"Speak of the devil," he noted as he climbed up the stairs to answer the door that connected the gloomy basement to the main library. He expected to see the blond boy with the blue cap on his head waiting on the other side when he opened it.

What he did not expect was nothing.

The man blinked, poking his head out to look around the library. Not even a soul in sight. "That's odd," he murmured as he shut the door to the basement again. "I could have sworn someone knocked." If only he peeled his eyes away from the stairs as he went down again.

If only he noticed the figure clinging to the ceiling, a malevolent smirk on their face.

The librarian heard a thud behind him, making him wheel around to search for the source of the noise. But once again, no one was there. Shaking his head in an attempt to shake off the feeling as well, he started down the stairs once more. But with each step, he swore he heard another set of feet falling in time with his, only the sounds came from up ahead. "I need to get out more," he murmured.

By the time he reached the basement floor, he heard another knock at the door. Groaning, the librarian raced back up, skipping several steps at a time before he wrenched open the door. "Yes?" he said in a tone that came out harsher than he meant it to.

The blond schoolboy flinched at the librarian's harsh tone, but quickly recovered. "Uh, I—I left my bag here and I—"

"You came here to get it back," the librarian finished, receiving a confirming nod from the boy. "All right, wait here." For the third time today, he descended the stairs, skipping two steps at a time. As he did this, he swore he heard something moving around in the lowest level of the library but he tried to pass this off as the boy upstairs pacing the floor. Still, the boy would have to be stomping for the sounds to be that loud or he was a talented ventriloquist.

A drawer slammed shut by the time the librarian reached the basement floor. The green-haired man tensed from the noise of a cabinet sliding back into place that still echoed within the barely lit room. His eyes narrowed in the direction of where the sound originated, yet nothing met his eye except a lone filing cabinet. He noticed that the handle of the top drawer shook slightly, as if someone slammed the drawer with considerable force.

"Who's there?" he questioned, his query echoing back to him. By now he knew that he wasn't alone downstairs. No one but another person could be able to open a cabinet and slam it shut.

Suddenly he felt a gust, as if the ventilation system was activating. But it didn't seem to last for long.

The green-haired man strode over to the cabinet from where the sound originated. He opened the top cabinet to see if anything was missing when something caught his eye.

A lone, short strand of hair.

He picked it up gently from where it sat, resting on top of the files for "Loran" and "Lorenz". The librarian noted how the strand seemed to change colors. Holding it up to the light, he discovered that it was. It shifted from fair blond to light brown and over again. "What are you doing here?" he murmured, wondering how a curious strand of hair made its way into the cabinet.

Remembering that someone was waiting for him, he decided to place the hair strand in a small plastic bag that he used to contain specimens whenever he wasn't on the job. Setting it inside a first aid box that rested beside his own bag, he grabbed the satchel that belonged to the blond boy and ran back up the steps.

The schoolboy came into his view as he landed softly on the floor with his back to the librarian. Part of the adult wondered if the boy started jumping out of boredom. "Ahem."

Platin jumped a little before he spun on the spot to face the librarian. "Oh, thank goodness," he said in relief as he reached for his bag.

"Pardon me for taking my time," the librarian said, handing the bag over to its owner. "There were some things down there that made me overlook your bag."

"That's all right." Platin gently eased his satchel underneath his left arm. Now that he looked closer, the librarian noticed that Platin was holding his left side carefully. "Is something wrong with your side?" the green-haired man asked.

"Hm?" Platin looked at his left side, which was where the librarian's eyes were. "Oh—I ran into a wall on my way here."

"And it still hurts?" The librarian asked skeptically, unable to believe that a wall could leave much pain unless one was thrown at it.

"That, and I bumped into a table back there," Platin added, rubbing the back of his head with his right arm.

"I see..." The librarian stepped back down, wanting to make sure all of the documents were accounted for and that nothing was missing. "Well...be careful as you leave," he advised the boy.

"Oh, I will," Platin muttered under his breath as he reentered the main library, shutting the door to the basement behind him.

* * *

Ansen tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for his rival to return. "Don't tell me he flaked out on me," he grumbled. "That guy promised to fight with me."

"I never promise, ninja. I only confirm."

Ansen spun on the spot to see Platin standing behind him—on top of a lamp-post. "How the heck did you get up there?" he yelled in surprise.

"There's a fine difference between us," Platin responded, one of his brown eyes regarding Ansen as if he were an insect—a feeling that the latter experienced for so long. "I am an acrobat—you're just a boy who wants to be a ninja."

Once again, steam poured out of Ansen's ears. "I repeat, do NOT call me a ninja!" he shouted to his out-of-the-blue overconfident rival.

"Or what?" Platin challenged. He leaned down a bit, keeping his balance on the lamp-post. "Ninja?" he added.

Ansen adjusted his tasseled beret as he glowered at his adversary. "All right, Sleeper. You asked for it!"

Ansen put his hands together and pulled them away until he held a crystalline archer's bow set with an arrow against the string. Acting fast, he aimed towards Platin and let the arrow fly. The Sleeper moved out of the way calmly while retaining his balance on the lamp-post.

The taller of the two hurled something at the shorter: two crystalline throwing stars that suddenly curved in the air to hit Platin in the back. But they passed through his body, which disappeared when contact was made.

"An illusion?" Ansen exclaimed as he searched wildly for Platin's real body.

"Do you know what the key to Illusion Magic is?" a voice said next to his ear. Ansen whirled around only to see nothing. "You make your opponent see one thing, when in reality—" The scene before him rippled like a lake's surface before a powerful wind blew. "—you do something else right under their nose!"

"Wh-what is this?" The Eastern-looking boy watched as the scene swirled around him, trapping him in a spiraling world where colors faded quickly. Sprays of water hit him in the face, making the boy realize what was happening too late. Before he knew it, he was caught in a whirlpool.

He had no time to take a breath as he went under. Ansen struggled to breathe, but choked on water instead.

Before he could faint from lack of air, the water dispersed. From a pedestrian's view, it would look as though the park's pond was parting around two boys: Ansen knelt on the pond's soggy floor, soaked head to toe with pond water while Platin stood just a meter away, his arms spread wide while brown eyes narrowed in concentration.

Ansen coughed up the last traces of water in his lungs—he swore he felt a small fry in his mouth. Alternating between coughing and spitting, he managed to raise his head to look at Platin in his—wait, _brown_ eyes? "Hey!" Ansen rose to his feet and dragged his waterlogged body over to his rival. "Your eyes!"

"What about them?" Platin yawned as he adjusted his blue cap.

"They're supposed to be green!" Ansen pointed out. "And come to think of it—your hair's supposed to be blond, not brown!"

"And we're supposed to live in a country without power-hungry morons. Does Saber Tooth follow that criteria? No," Platin scoffed as he climbed up to the shore of the pond. He glanced back at Ansen, who remained where he stood gaping at his rival. "Snap to it, unless you want me to drown you again?" he added.

Ansen scowled as he climbed onto the shore while trying to squeeze water out of his suikan. He could hear the pond being restored to its normal state as water crashed against the muddy ground. "Next time, I'll get you for sure," he grumbled.

Platin smiled slyly as he walked away. "Sure you will, little ni—wah!" Ansen looked up in time to see Platin slip and fall into the pond. The boy went under the depths while his blue cap floated on the surface.

Recognizing an opportunity for revenge, Ansen raced over and plucked the cap out of the water just when Platin's arm rose from the depths to get it. Platin used a finger to motion for Ansen to return his hat, but Ansen had other plans. "You want the hat back?" he asked, raising it above his head. "You'll need to come out of the water to get it, Sleeper!"

A hand grabbed his left ankle and yanked him into the pond, eliciting a surprised yelp from Ansen as he went under again. This time he was able to come back up for air whereas Platin didn't allow him to in their little spat earlier. By the time he breached the surface, Platin stood a little ways from him in the water while he fixed his hat back over his blond head.

"A word of warning," Platin said as he pulled his cap down to the point that it nearly covered green eyes that glowered at Ansen. "Never touch the hat."

"Good to see you back to normal, Sleeper!" Ansen exclaimed as he fixed his own hat.

Platin tilted his head as he frowned in confusion. "'Back to normal'? What do you mean?"

"You...well—your hair and eyes were brown a while ago and you acted...different. Confident, smug, mean—don't you remember our battle?"

"Our...battle?" Platin held his head as he climbed out of the water. "We had a battle?"

"You promised and everything. And you tried to drown me!" Ansen cried, waving his arms towards the pond. "Does Illusion Magic ring a bell?"

"...No..." Platin replied, his voice small and weak. Ansen finally noticed how stressed out Platin looked, especially with his confused expression and dark circles. It made him feel sorry for the younger boy who had yet to reach puberty. "I remember leaving the library with you...but why can't I remember anything after that?" He pulled his blue cap over his eyes. "Why can't I remember anything today?"

* * *

"No, no, no!" The green-haired librarian knocked everything off the desk with a sweep of his arm in anger. "I can't be missing a file!" But the fact that a single file went missing under his nose didn't sit well with him. He could already see himself out of a job if the mayor learned what happened. He didn't know what to do if he lost this job and a steady income. It was bad enough when he lost his job in his old guild. He could already hear his old guild mates taunting him for being unable to support himself. It didn't help that the name on the file was the same as one of his former guild mates.

Wait...

"Well, well." The librarian rubbed his hands together as he contemplated the situation. "Lady Luck has finally returned to me."

He remembered the hair strand he found in the filing cabinet that once contained the now lost file. Picking up the first aid box from the ground, he opened it and took out the bag that contained the hair. "I wonder...can you help me find the thief, little friend?"

* * *

Platin sat alone at a park bench after Ansen suggested that he sit down to mull things over. So his rival left him to his confused thoughts while going off on his own—probably so he didn't have to deal with an amnesiac.

_Not that I blame him_, Platin thought as he examined the lines on his palm. He was no palm reader, but it was still interesting to see every wrinkle his hands possessed.

"Here." Platin looked up to see a hand offering him a large, squishy rice cake. "What, you don't like mochi?"

"...Thanks." Platin accepted the mochi and took a small bite from it, chewing it slowly. Ansen sat down on the park bench next to Platin, watching him eat while that depressed look never left his face.

Ansen cleared his throat, hoping to ease the uncomfortable tension radiating from Platin. "If you're still depressed about not remembering...don't think too much on it. My mama said that living in the past tends to drag you down."

Platin swallowed before he began to chew on the mochi thoughtfully. "That's you...but...you don't forget everything that happens to you, do you, Ansen?"

Ansen couldn't find a way to argue that. "Well, no..." Deciding to change the topic, he added, "So what's the story behind the hat?"

Platin froze, making Ansen wonder if he had gone too far. "Okay, forget I ever said that. No, don't forget—you don't have to answer if you don't want to," Ansen blurted.

"It's...fine." Platin gulped, feeling the sweet rice cake go down his throat. "It's just...special to me. Without it...I just feel...um..."

"Insecure?" Ansen suggested, having experienced the same feeling himself.

"Exactly..."

"You know what I think? That hat's like your own baby blanket." In one bite, Ansen devoured half of his mochi, making Platin gape at the other boy's feat. Ansen noticed his blond rival's dumbfounded expression and looked at his already half-eaten snack. "What?" he mumbled through a mouth full of mochi. "It's not my fault you eat like a girl."

Initially the comment made him wince, but Platin's depressed look was replaced by one of annoyance. "Funny," Platin commented with a small laugh. "And here I was thinking I was rude for thinking you ate like a dog."

"Woof woof, Sleeper," Ansen said sarcastically. "At least dogs have cleaner mouths than humans."

The two boys traded remarks and insults, which made Platin forget what he had been upset about as he tried not to laugh at the insults that came out of their mouths.

Ansen mentally did a victory dance once he saw a hint of a smile on his rival's face. He didn't know what possessed him to throw the first insult, but he felt better now that his rival wasn't so sad over memories that he couldn't recall for some reason. Even if it was annoyance and childish mocking, it was better than seeing the blond so distraught.

Somehow, the banter turned into an eating contest that Ansen won without a doubt—he stuffed the rest of his mochi in his mouth and swallowed it after much chewing. "That's cheating!" Platin exclaimed.

"It was the most delicious thing in the world," Ansen fake sniffled, which made Platin hold his stomach as he laughed. "And you still laugh like a girl," he retorted.

"S-sorry...it's just...you acted like you never had a mochi," Platin wheezed as the last laughs died down.

"I used to eat a lot of mochi when I was a kid. But my mama caught me trying to sneak out a mochi she made for my grandpa, and since then the only times she would make mochi were New Year's and special occasions."

Platin tilted his head. "You tried to eat your grandpa's mochi?" he asked, unable to see how that would anger a woman besides having to make another one.

"It wasn't my fault the snack Mama made for Grandpa was better than what she made for me!" Ansen defended.

* * *

**8:30 PM**

Streetlights flickered in the night as a tall figure made its way over to the town's clock tower. The figure stared up at the belfry before he promptly jumped from support to gutters on the church walls until he reached the bell chamber. Eyes narrowed at the shadows, where a smaller figure could be seen resting lazily against the wall of one of the openings, right under one of the four bells.

"It took me a while, but I never expected the thief to be so young," the taller of the two applauded.

"...What do you want?" The smaller figure said to the intruder.

"Isn't it obvious?" A hand extended towards the boy. "I want what you stole from me."

"What value does it have to you?" The boy in the shadows inquired.

"Well..." The man put his hands up in surrender. "I would ask you the same, but I already know the answer. Though it does raise a few questions as to why you would steal your own records."

"Oh, but the file doesn't belong to _me_." The boy got off the stone opening and retrieved a bag from a corner of the bell chamber. "The name on the file belongs to an entirely different person. But I have need of this file if I'm to carry out my plan, so I ask again: what value does this file have to _you_?"

"Well..." The man spread his arms wide. "It's not just the file, but the _name_ on the file that caught my eye."

The boy tilted his head back as he regarded the man coldly with a single eye. "I suppose you're here to play goody two-shoes and turn me in, aren't you?"

"Not at all," the man smiled. "Rather, I want to _work_ with you."

This caught the boy's attention as his head raised slightly to look at the man in the eye. "Go on," he said coolly, crossing his arms.

"I want to land a blow on a certain man, and he happens to share a surname with the person whose file you've taken."

"I don't see what your plan has for me."

"Well, I would look the other way and pretend this theft never happened."

"Too predictable," the boy scoffed as he looked away from the adult. "You'll need something higher than that if you want my cooperation."

The adult raised an eyebrow at this: this boy was more difficult than his appearance seemed to suggest. "Oh? Then what about full access to every database in the world?"

He saw a satisfied sneer cross the boy's face. "That is tempting," the boy acknowledged as he rubbed his hands together. "However, what makes you think I have need of every database in the world?"

"The file you stole...even though it's useless to you, you still keep it." The man leaned back on his heels. "You want to erase her existence from the very face of Earthland, don't you?"

The sound of applause rang through the silent bell chamber, originating from the boy in the shadows. "Very nicely done," the boy praised. "So you would help me?"

"I would gladly do whatever it takes to devastate my adversary and his guild."

"Oh?" The boy started to pace the length of the bell chamber. "Not just the man, but his guild as well?"

"I used to belong to that guild, only to be thrown out when I lost my memories one day. The man I speak of restored them, but did nothing to stop my excommunication."

"I see." The boy continued to pace while he held his chin with his right hand. "I never took you for a man able to hold a grudge. However...all this talk of revenge and humiliation...it would be a waste to put that much effort on one man, wouldn't you say?"

"What are you saying?" the man asked.

"It's quite simple, really." The boy stopped in his tracks, looking out over the town below. "There is power in numbers—a brick wall, for example. Even if one brick is removed, it still stands as long as the foundation remains firm. But if the entire structure is undermined in anyway, then you only need to remove one brick to collapse the entire wall. If you want to devastate one man, you'll need to raze his entire guild first. Such humiliation shouldn't be kept hush-hush, should it?"

"Humiliating his guild won't be easy, especially not in public. Their determination to keep their public image isn't so conquerable."

"Then you need to a determination of another sort to counter that. Give the people a reason to have that guild brought to its knees. Can you do that?"

The man chuckled to himself, admiring the boy's strategic mind. "With great pleasure, young man. There's no need to worry about the first course of action. I already executed it...two years ago."

A malevolent smirk made itself known on the boy's face. "Then all that's needed—" A small, silver blade reflected moonlight as its wielder raised it up to his lips. "—is the declaration of war."


	12. Declaration

**X790, April 12, 3:45 PM**

**Lamia Scale**

A pot of tea sat next to Ooba Babasaama along with a teacup. Ooba's brows alternated between furrowing in concern to relaxing slightly. The tea beside her was already cold since the person she intended it for wasn't here yet.

Ooba picked up the cup, only to witness a small crack forming on the ceramic material. The elderly guild master frowned. "Something...something's not right," she murmured.

"Ooba-dono." Ooba looked up from the cracked cup to meet the eyes of her guild's ace. "Something worries you, no?" Jura inquired.

"..." Ooba set the cup back down to resume spinning her arms. "The job I allowed Platin to take was simple enough for him to return by noon yesterday," she informed. "But the boy never came back."

"Perhaps Platin-dono had other arrangements?" Jura suggested as he stroked his beard. "I believe Yuka-dono said that Platin made his first rival."

Ooba chuckled to herself. "Yes, I could certainly see him fighting a rival. Maybe Yuka is right, Jura. Maybe I am becoming too protective of that boy."

"It does mean that you care about your subordinates, Ooba-dono."

Frantic pounding at the guild's doors caught everyone's attention before a chubby man raced into the guild hall, out of breath. "Obaba...someone...Platin...hurt..."

"Get a hold of yourself, man!" Lyon, who returned an hour ago from a mission, shook the chubby man's shoulders to set him straight. "What about the little sleepwalker?"

"He...he's here..." the stout man panted. "But...there's something wrong with him...the person who found him said he was attacked..."

"WHAT!" Before anyone could react, Ooba rushed outside with Jura following after her. She barely crossed the threshold when the dark green-haired librarian from yesterday ran up to her with Platin on his back.

Platin...

Ooba tried to look at anything but Platin's left arm, but the bloodied bandages on his upper arm were difficult to ignore. Platin's tattered blue blazer was removed and draped over his shoulders, giving Lamia Scale a good look at his left arm, which was exposed due to the fact that the sleeve had to be rolled up for the bandages.

"Platin!" Yuka cried when he reached the doorway.

"Are you his master?" The green-haired man asked Ooba, his eyes fearful and concerned behind his glasses.

"What happened to Platin?" Ooba demanded, more concerned than ever for her youngest subordinate.

The green-haired man twisted his neck a bit to look at the blue-capped boy on his back. "I don't know what happened, ma'am...I found him this afternoon like this. I treated his injury before he asked me to take him to his guild, but he's losing blood! I tried to take him to the hospital, but he begged me not to take him there—"

"Ugh..." Platin's eyes opened slowly, blinking in confusion when he saw his guild gathered at the doors. "O-Obaba?"

"Platin!" Ooba ran up to her youngest member as the green-haired man set him carefully on his feet but kept a hold on his shoulders to support him. "What on Earthland happened to you?"

"I..." Platin looked at his left arm, the fear in his eyes combined with his dark circles made him look ready to cry. "I...I don't know..." he answered with a shaking voice. "I...I can't remember..." Without warning, Platin's eyelids drooped over green orbs as his body swayed. He almost collapsed on the stairs if it weren't for the green-haired man, who kept him from doing so.

"He's in shock," the green-haired man said, drawing all eyes back to him. "It's not uncommon when some victims survive major injuries," he explained as he put Platin on his back again. "Is there an infirmary in this guild?"

"Yes, but—"

"That will do!" The green-haired librarian ran into the guild without invitation, leaving the resident wizards to follow after him.

The librarian who employed Platin along with Ansen burst into the infirmary, somehow knowing where it was without being told where it was to begin with. He set Platin down on a bed, adjusting his hat so that it stayed on his head before he opened his bag. From it, he produced a first aid box and folded cloth bundle. In one move, he spread out the cloth, revealing a full set of surgical instruments, each with its own pocket.

"Wait!" The librarian wheeled around to see Ooba rushing into the infirmary. "I don't mean to be rude, but are you sure you're a doctor?" Ooba asked.

The librarian produced his wallet and opened it swiftly so that Ooba could see the doctor's identification card in the clear sleeve. "I understand your suspicions, ma'am. I would be too in your position. If you don't mind—?"

"Oh! Of course!" Ooba stepped out of the infirmary just as the librarian/doctor pulled out a syringe needle. The elderly guild master closed the door on her subordinate and the doctor.

"Obaba!" Ooba looked at the sea of faces before her, all wondering what would become of their sleep-fighter. "Is he going to be all right?" Sherry asked.

Ooba sighed. "Platin...he's in good hands right now."

Her guild matched her relief, letting out breaths that they held ever since Platin was carried into the infirmary. "But who could have done this?" Sherry wondered.

"Oon..." Toby murmured, worried for once for the young blond boy.

"Obaba?" Yuka asked.

"..." Ooba looked back at the infirmary door, where she knew Platin was being treated behind it. "I don't like what this means, but I swear upon our guild that the culprit will not get away with it!"

* * *

**Saber Tooth**

A frown remained firm on Hestia's face as she sat on her stool at the guild's bar.

"Tia-kun, smile!" Lector cried. "The food doesn't taste good when you're sad!"

"Fro thinks so too!" Frosch chirped.

"What did you do to her, Lore?" Rietta demanded the masked man that escorted her back.

"She's been like this since I picked her up from school," Rufus defended. He remembered clearly that Hestia wouldn't say a word to him when he came to get her, not even on the train ride to the guild.

Rietta propped her elbow on the counter as she came to eye level with the child. "Hestia."

"..." Hestia brought her eyes up to look at the chef, maintaining an indifferent look that vaguely resembled Rogue's.

"Did something happen at school today?" Rietta questioned.

"..." The chef never saw Hestia so unresponsive before. Rietta tried holding a peach, which was Hestia's favorite fruit, up to her face, but Hestia didn't budge.

_Time for more drastic measures_, Rietta thought as she looked at her watch. "One hundred Jewels per word bonus pocket money—go!"

The Exceed, Rufus, and Rietta stared at Hestia intently, expecting her to let out a stream of words. But Hestia never even opened her mouth. "Something's definitely wrong," Rietta said. Her most effective method never failed until now.

"Hestia." Rufus spun Hestia's stool towards him. "Is something wrong?"

"..."

"Hestia," Rufus tried again, his voice taking on a firmer tone. "You know you can talk to us if something's wrong."

"..." Hestia looked at the concerned faces of the four mages before her. "...Miss Tina didn't come to school today," she said sadly.

The Exceed and Rietta fell comically while Rufus' brows rose. "That—that was it?" Rietta exclaimed. "She was sad because a teacher didn't come in?"

"Miss Tina is her favorite, apparently," Rufus informed before he redirected his attention to Hestia. "Hestia...is there a reason you call her Miss Tina? According to my memories, you're supposed to address teachers by their surname."

Hestia tilted her head. "Um...I don't know. When Miss Tina substituted for our class, she just told us to call her Miss Tina."

"So you don't know her last name?"

"Nope."

"Why the sudden interest in Hestia's teachers, Lore?" Rietta asked as she returned to her post.

"I am by no means paranoid." Rufus tapped his cheek as he recalled his last meeting with Miss Tina. "But there's something about that girl...that's not right."


End file.
